Harry Styles said the years he spent with his One Direction band mate Liam Payne “will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life” following the singer’s death at 31.
Payne, who rose to fame with the boy band on The X Factor, died after falling from a third floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires on Wednesday.
“I will miss him always, my lovely friend,” three-time Grammy winner Styles said in a statement on Instagram.
Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage”, a post-mortem examination report said.
Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death” following the report.
Payne’s family said they were “heartbroken” following his death, adding: “Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”
A joint statement from his One Direction bandmates said they were “completely devastated” and will miss the singer “terribly”, adding the “memories we shared with him will be treasured forever”.
In a separate statement, Styles said Payne’s “greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it”.
“Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious,” he said.
“He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving.
“The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life.”
Styles said his “heart breaks” for Payne’s family and his seven-year-old son Bear, who he shared with his former partner, Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.
Fellow One Direction star Louis Tomlinson vowed to be an uncle to Payne’s son in a separate Instagram statement.
“I want you to know that if Bear ever needs me I will be the uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was,” the 32-year-old said.
Tomlinson said Payne was “the most vital part of One Direction”, describing his “perfect pitch, his stage presence, (and) his gift for writing”.
“I’m so grateful that we got even closer since the band, speaking on the phone for hours, reminiscing about all the thousands of amazing memories we had together is a luxury I thought I’d have with you for life,” he said.
“I would have loved to share the stage with you again but it wasn’t to be.”
Tomlinson said he and Payne had planned to get “back in the studio together to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built up in the band”, adding that he wished he had the “chance to say goodbye” to “one of my best friends”.
Both Tomlinson and former One Direction star Zayn Malik said they had “lost a brother”.
Malik, who left the band in 2015 citing the need to have “some private time out of the spotlight” before embarking on a solo career, thanked Payne for “supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life” in a separate post on Instagram.
“When I was missing home as a 17 yr old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and that I was loved,” he said.
Malik said he “butted heads” with Payne at times because he was “headstrong” and “opinionated”, but “always secretly respected” him for it.
“I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, there is no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated,” the 31-year-old added.
Among those paying tribute was Camila Cabello, who rose to fame on the US version of The X Factor in 2012 after forming the girl group Fifth Harmony.
“Thank you Liam for all the joy you brought my friends and I” she wrote on Instagram. “It really made an impression on me as a young girl to meet a member of a group I loved and have him be so kind.
“It’s a tragedy to have him gone way too soon.”
After Payne’s death, five witnesses were questioned in order to reconstruct what happened, the prosecutor’s office said.
Reports said staff at the hotel made two calls to emergency services with audio revealing a staff member had asked for assistance for a guest who was “intoxicated by drugs and alcohol”.
Police in the capital said the music star’s hotel room had been “in complete disarray” with “various items broken” – adding that a whiskey bottle, lighter and mobile phone had been retrieved from the internal hotel courtyard where Payne’s body was found.
One Direction fans mourned his death at a vigil outside the Argentine hotel where they lit candles and laid flowers.
The band toured across the globe and had five chart-topping albums, as well as four number one singles in the UK chart with tracks including What Makes You Beautiful and Little Things.
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton, released his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, which included the songs Polaroid and Strip That Down featuring Quavo.
One of his most famous songs, For You, was a collaboration between him and the singer Rita Ora for the film Fifty Shades Freed in 2018.
Hours after his death, Ora sang their song while an image of the pair was projected on to the screen behind her during a performance in Osaka, Japan.