One Direction stars gather for funeral of ex-bandmate Liam Payne

CNN

By Rob Picheta and Sana Noor Haq, CNN

Amersham, England (CNN) — Liam Payne’s family, friends and former bandmates came together to pay tribute to the One Direction star at his funeral in England on Wednesday, a month after the singer died at 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.

Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, who accompanied Payne on his rise to superstardom as part of one of Britain’s biggest ever boybands, each attended the service in Amersham, northwest of London.

On Monday afternoon, a horse-drawn carriage arrived at the church carrying Payne’s dark blue casket with silver fittings. The entrance of the flint stone church was decorated with white roses and candle holders.

Two floral tributes adorned the top of the white carriage, one reading “son” while the other read “daddy.” Payne’s parents watched, his mother weeping, as the late singer’s casket brought inside.

After the service, music mogul Simon Cowell – who masterminded the group’s formation on British reality show “The X Factor” in 2010 – consoled Payne’s mother and father.

Wednesday’s service capped a stunning and ultimately tragic story that had captivated a generation of music fans. One Direction toppled chart records that had stood since The Beatles’ legendary run in the 1960s, and inspired the revival of the boyband in popular culture.

The singer died on October 16 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Payne had alcohol, cocaine, and a prescription antidepressant in his system, according to the country’s public prosecutor’s office, which launched an investigation. Three people are facing preliminary charges for crimes related to his death.

‘He had so much more to give’

The details of Payne’s private funeral had been kept a closely guarded secret until Wednesday morning, when activity steadily increased on a freezing but bright morning in Amersham.

Payne owned a house a short drive from the picturesque town, as did Cheryl Tweedy, the former Girls Aloud singer with whom he shared 7-year-old son, Bear.

Several onlookers had stories of the singer, gathered firsthand or through friends. Others had listened to Payne’s music since he first broke out, as a 16-year-old, on “The X Factor.”

“I was so gobsmacked. It brought tears to my eyes,” Caroline Jordan, 58, told CNN. She had held her wedding inside the same church. “I’ve watched him from the minute they performed as a band,” she said. “He had so much more to give.”

Many fans had hoped for years that One Direction – a band that created pandemonium and achieved wild chart success – would one day reunite. Instead, they glimpsed their idols emerging from black vehicles, one by one, wearing somber expressions as they prepared to pay their respects to their bandmate.

Styles was the first One Direction member to emerge; he glanced towards the massed media before walking into the church. He was the last of the band to leave after the service, getting into a car with TV host James Corden.

Tomlinson and Malik arrived at the church at the same time, in separate cars, shortly before Horan. Former Girls Aloud singers Kimberley Walsh and Nicola Roberts supported their former bandmate Tweedy by joining guests, including Payne’s girlfriend at the time of his death, Kate Cassidy.

One Direction – by then a four-piece after Malik’s earlier exit – ended their run in 2015. While it appeared to be on positive terms, some members – including Payne – spoke in the subsequent years about tensions during their intense and prolific time together.

Their time at the forefront of pop lasted six years and spanned the globe. The band, powered by radio-friendly anthems like “Best Song Ever” and “Story of My Life,” became the first group to have its first four albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.

Payne embarked on a solo career after the split, and had success with a handful of singles, including “Strip That Down.” But he spoke publicly about his challenges with substance abuse and his mental health. In the summer of 2023, he said he was marking six months of sobriety after completing treatment in a US facility. Later that year, he delayed his tour after suffering a kidney infection.

The quartet were “completely devastated” over his death, according to a joint statement on Instagram. “We will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly,” Malik, Styles, Horan and Tomlinson posted on social media. “The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.

It is a feeling shared by countless fans. Victoria Horwood, 28, drove past Payne’s house each morning as she took her child to school. His music “helped me through a lot of hard times,” she said, and she attended several of One Direction’s concerts.

“It’s nice that they’ve all come together for his sake, and they’re putting him first,” she said of the bandmates.

Alice Chapman, 40, was similarly upset. She said she joined the crowd in Amersham to “have his mum drive down the road and see how many people were out.”

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