Niall Horan is mourning his former bandmate.
The Irish singer posted a heartfelt tribute to Liam Payne on social media on Friday, October 18, following news that the 31-year-old former One Direction member had passed away in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16.
Payne died after falling from several stories at the CasaSur Palermo hotel, Policía Federal Argentina confirmed to PEOPLE.
Saying he was “absolutely devastated” by the death of his former bandmates, Horan, 31, wrote: “It just doesn’t feel real. Liam had an energy for life and a passion for his work that was infectious. He was the smartest person in any room and he always made everyone feel happy and safe.”
“All the laughter we’ve had over the years, sometimes about the simplest things, keeps coming to mind through the sadness,” Horan continued. “We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will forever cherish every moment we had. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen very often in life.”
Horan then mentioned that he saw Payne earlier this month when he attended one of Horan’s shows on his current show Performance: Live on tour. Payne was at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires for Horan’s show on October 2.
“I feel so lucky to have seen him recently. Unfortunately, I didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking,” Horan added.
The musician concluded his statement with expressions of love and condolences to Payne’s family, before signing the message: “Thank you for everything Payno. Love you bro. Nialler.”
Payne seemed to enjoy himself when he attended Horan’s performance on Oct. 2, as fan-filmed concert video showed the singer clapping along to the music and also posing for photos and videos, according to Pop Crave.
He told fans in Snapchat videos before the concert that he and girlfriend Kate Cassidy wanted to “say hi” to Horan.
“It’s been a while since Niall and I talked. We have a lot to talk about. And I’d like to arrange a few things with the boy. No bad vibes or anything like that. But just hmmwe need to talk,” Payne said in a Snapchat clip that was re-shared on X (formerly Twitter).
Liam Payne (left) and Niall Horan perform with One Direction.
Jeff Daly/NBC via Getty
Horan and Payne performed together in the popular boy band from 2010 to 2016. The other original members of the band were Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. Malik left the band in 2015, on the eve of Made in the morningwhich was their fifth and final album before going on an indefinite hiatus. All five have released solo music.
One Direction was first formed on a British singing competition television series The X factorwhere they took third place before eventually signing to Simon Cowell’s record label, becoming one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.
Payne reflected on his relationships with his former bandmates a year before his death when “What Makes You Beautiful,” One Direction’s first single, reached one billion streams.
“I’m learning about myself and what this was all for,” he said in 2023. “But now when I listen back and think about the power that we all had, including you as a fan base, I’m so happy that for five years we’ve made such a great soundtrack for life.”
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Source: HIS Education