Trigger Warning: This article mentions death

Jade Thirlwall is remembering Liam Payne as the “first friend” she made in the music industry following her 2008 audition on The X Factor. For those unversed, Payne, who passed away at age 31 on October 16 after falling several feet from his hotel room balcony in Buenos Aires, also auditioned for the same British reality show in the same year as Thirlwall.

“The news of Liam passing is truly heartbreaking,” said Thirlwall, a member of the currently defunct English girl group Little Mix. “Sending so much love to his family, friends, fans, loved ones, and all who knew him,” she added, along with a bandaged red heart emoji.

The Angel of My Dreams singer noted in her tribute message that she and Payne “fell out of touch as the years went by, but back in 2008, he was the first friend” she made in this industry. “Both of us so young and ambitious, both hoping we’d make it. I hope you are at peace now.”

Her tribute to Payne, shared on her Instagram Stories, included a throwback photo of herself with the One Direction star.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death.

Liam Payne’s sudden death has been one of the most shocking events of this year. His fans are grieving his passing globally. However, there were some fans got a chance to interact with him days before his death as he attended his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert.

Noelia, a fan of Payne, conversed with People magazine about the encounters she had when the singer was in Buenos Aires. She told the outlet, “I ran into him by chance. I had found out on Twitter that he was here for Niall’s show.”

Noelia shared that they clicked pictures together. She said that she waited for the late singer to approach them, and they took photos with all the fans. She added that the One Direction alum spoke with them, hugged, and cracked jokes as well.

For the unversed, the Strip That Down singer attended Horan’s show at the Movistar Arena on October 2. Noelia recalled that he waved, danced, and cheered at the location.

She said that when Horan began singing one of their band’s tracks, everybody looked at Payne, who seemed like he was enjoying himself. According to Pop Crave, videos and photos of the late vocalist at the concert, captured by the attendees, have been going viral online.

Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death and drugs.

Liam Payne’s shocking death has left the world grief-stricken. A guest at the Hotel CasaSur in Buenos Aires has shared horrifying details about the moments before he died. Unfortunately, the singer passed away at the age of just 31 after falling from the third floor of his hotel room.

The fellow hotel guest claimed in an interview with People that there was a lot of commotion coming from Payne’s room moments before he allegedly jumped off the balcony. Initially, the guest took the incredibly loud and violent noise for construction work as it resembled banging and heavy lifting.

Reportedly, there were several hotel employees running in and out of Payne’s room at around 4:30 P.M. Police appeared at the location soon after five, and Payne was confirmed dead a short time later. 

Pablo Policicchio, the Buenos Aires Security Ministry’s communications director, confirmed that Payne had jumped from his balcony at the hotel he was checked in during his 2-week-long stay in Argentina.

The guest said, “I heard a really loud, violent scream.” The person stated that he did not pay much attention to it until he heard police sirens upon getting down the elevator. The witness claimed that he initially heard loud noises and violent screams and then police sirens. No one realized how serious the incident was until they got off the lift and saw several police vehicles on the street.