One Direction member Niall Horan recalled his “heartbreaking” final moments with Liam Payne just two weeks before the musician’s sudden death.
“I’m absolutely devastated about the passing of my amazing friend, Liam. It just doesn’t feel real,” Horan said in a statement shared to Instagram. “Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.
“All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime.”
ONE DIRECTION MEMBERS ‘DEVASTATED BY’ LIAM PAYNE’S DEATH, SAY THEY WILL ‘MISS HIM TERRIBLY’
Payne died Oct. 16 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
Horan was the only member of One Direction to have seen Payne in the weeks before his death. Payne had traveled to Argentina to see Horan take the stage on Oct. 2.
“I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently,” Horan wrote in his statement. “I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking,” he added. “My love and condolences go out to Geoff, Karen, Ruth and Nicola and of course his son Bear. Thank you for everything, Payno. Love you brother. Nialler.”
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Payne was 14 when he first auditioned for “The X Factor” in 2008. He returned to audition two years later and was chosen by Simon Cowell to join a super group. Cowell matched Payne up with Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.
They formed the boy band One Direction and went on to become one of the best-selling groups of all time.
One Direction is known for massive hit songs including, “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Night Changes,” “Story of My Life” and “Steal My Girl.”
The group “will miss him terribly.”
“We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing,” the statement released by the band on social media said. “In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
Payne’s death was the “result of the fall he suffered from the balcony of the third floor room of the hotel in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Palermo where he was staying,” according to the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 16, temporarily headed by Marcelo Roma.
Forensic experts reported finding 25 injuries “compatible with those caused by falling from a height,” according to the autopsy. They also noted that “craniocerebral lesions were adequate enough to cause death, while internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs, they contributed to the mechanism of death.”
Fox News Digital’s Tracy Wright contributed to this report.
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