Rita Ora fought back tears as she performed a song she recorded with Liam Payne at a concert hours after the One Direction star’s death.
Payne, aged 31, fell from a third floor of a hotel in the Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires on Wednesday evening, before medics confirmed his death.
Around 12 hours after the tragic news broke, friend and fellow singer Ora took to the stage in Osaka, Japan, and struggled to finish their duet, For You, which she released with Payne in 2018 for the soundtrack to the film Fifty Shades Freed.
During the song, a picture of the pair was projected on to the big screen behind her as she battled through the lyrics of their duet.
In heartbreaking footage posted online, the singer, 33, was seen holding her head in her hands as she turned away from the crowd and looked up to sky before saying ‘I can’t even sing this right now’.
Rita Ora took to the stage in Japan and performed song ‘For You’ which she wrote with Payne in 2018 for the soundtrack to the film Fifty Shades Freed.
Ora and Payne performing during Westfield London’s 10-year birthday celebrations at Westfield Square, London in 2018
The singer, 33, told the crowd ‘I can’t even sing this right now’ after looking up to the sky
The song, For You, was one of two of Payne’s tracks as a solo artist that reached the top 10 in the UK official charts.
Payne was understood to be close friends with Ora, who was a judge on The X Factor in 2015, and even moved into her luxury £3.25million west London penthouse in 2021 with his ex-fiancée Maya Henry.
Posting to social media after the show, Ora wrote: ‘I’m devastated. He had the kindest soul, I will never forget.
‘I loved working with him so much – he was just such a joy to be around on and off stage. This tragic news breaks my heart.
‘Sending all my love and prayers to his family and loved ones. Our song For You takes on a whole new meaning for me now. R.I.P’
The 31-year-old star plunged 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital yesterday, before medics confirmed his death.
Payne had arrived in South America with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy on September 30, staying in Argentina for two weeks after only planning to spend ‘five days’ there.
During their extended trip, Payne was reunited with Niall Horan after going to watch his former bandmate perform at the Movistar Arena, Buenos Aires, on October 2.
During the song, a picture of the pair was projected onto the big screen behind her as she battled through the lyrics
Ora posted a touching tribute to Payne after performing their song on stage in Japan hours after his death
Posting to social media after the show, the singer wrote: ‘I’m devastated. He had the kindest soul, I will never forget’
The pair at the 10th Annual Filmmakers Dinner hosted at the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in France 2019
Payne was understood to be close friends with Ora and even moved into her luxury £3.25m west London penthouse in 2021 with his ex-fiancée Maya Henry
On October 12, Ms Cassidy, 25, returned home to Florida after saying ‘I just need to go home’ in a TikTok video, with Payne staying behind and checking into the £230-a-night Casa Sur hotel alone.
Just 48 hours before his death, on October 14, it emerged that Payne’s ex-fiancée, Ms Maya Henry, had started legal proceedings against Payne, accusing him of obsessively contacting her and ‘weaponising’ his fans against her.
Two days later, Payne posted several social media videos, including one where he jokingly called his girlfriend a ‘loser’ for going home.
Hours later, police were called to the hotel following reports of an ‘aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol’.
Shortly afterwards, workers heard a loud sound in the hotel’s courtyard before the Wolverhampton-born singer’s body was discovered just after 5pm local time.
Shocked fans gathered outside after police cordoned off the area with forensic investigators seen entering and exiting in white protective suits and blue gloves.
The star was said to have been ‘acting erratically in the hotel lobby and smashed his laptop’ before he ‘had to be carried back to his room’, according to local media.
One of Payne’s final selfies in Buenos Aires was captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina’
Payne plunged from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel (file image)
The singer fell from a suite at the Casa Sur Hotel with a balcony overlooking a swimming pool and an outdoor restaurant, and is thought to have landed in the spot circled above
Payne formed boy band One Direction in 2010, alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles, after they individually auditioned for The X Factor.
After becoming one of the biggest pop groups in the world with five albums and four world tours, One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016.
Payne released his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019 which included the songs Polaroid, Familiar and Strip That Down featuring Quavo.
He shares son Bear, born in 2017 with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole having been in a high-profile relationship between 2016 and 2018.
The singer first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008 at the age of 14 singing Frank Sinatra’s Fly Me To The Moon, with judge Simon Cowell telling him to return to the ITV talent show two years later.
He impressed the judges in 2010 singing Michael Buble’s rendition of Cry Me A River before he was put with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage of the competition – the group which later became One Direction.
In 2012, the boy band won their first Brit Award for best British single for their debut track What Makes You Beautiful, before picking up the Brit global success award a year later.
In 2014 and 2015 they also won best British video for Best Song Ever and You & I respectively.
After Malik left the band, the quartet won best artist video for Drag Me Down in 2016. They picked up the same award a year later for History.
In August last year, Payne postponed his scheduled tour of South America after suffering from a ‘serious kidney infection’.
He said the infection was something ‘I wouldn’t wish on anyone’ and he had been instructed by doctors to ‘rest and recover’.
In the same month, Payne was announced as a judge on a new Netflix show alongside former Destiny’s Child singer Kelly Rowland and The Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger.
Among those also paying tribute to Payne today was TV presenter Dermot O’Leary who recalled him auditioning for The X Factor as a 14-year-old boy.
Payne had been staying in Argentina over the last few weeks and was pictured engaging with fans
O’Leary, who hosted The X Factor during both of Payne’s appearances, shared a photograph of the pair on stage, captioning the Instagram post: ‘The worst news.
‘I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on The X Factor, and blowing us away singing Sinatra. He just loved to sing,’ he wrote.
‘He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful, and was always humble.’
Styles’ mother Anne Twist posted a broken-hearted emoji on Instagram, with the words: ‘Just a boy.’
Singer Olly Murs, who starred on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said he was ‘lost for words’, describing Payne’s death as ‘devastating’ on Instagram.
‘We always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch ups were only short and sweet but when we did it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for Becks, the old XF (X Factor) days and the tour we shared together,’ Murs wrote beside a picture of the pair.
‘Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams, so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad.’
Payne said he was ‘happy to have some time away’ less than an hour before he fell to his death
‘Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad.’
The Wanted star Max George said he met Payne while he was competing on The X Factor with One Direction, describing his death as ‘absolutely devastating news’.
‘Over the last few years I had the pleasure of getting to know him personally and spent some treasured time with him,’ he said on Instagram.
‘Liam was absolutely wonderful in terms of support when Tom (Parker) fell ill, performing at the Royal Albert Hall with us for Stand Up To Cancer.
‘He supported me a lot personally after Tom passed. I will never forget that.’
Payne attended the funeral of Parker, who died in March 2022 at the age of 33 after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
US singer Charlie Puth, a co-writer on Payne’s 2017 song Bedroom Floor, said he was in ‘shock’ after Payne’s death.
‘Liam was always so kind to me,’ he posted on Instagram, alongside a collection of photos of the pair working together.
‘He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I cannot believe he is gone… I am so upset right now, may he rest in peace.’
Former SAS: Who Dares Wins host Ant Middleton said he ‘formed a brotherhood’ with Payne after they filmed a documentary together in 2019.
The ex-Special Forces soldier described the former One Direction singer as ‘a good friend of mine’ after the pair journeyed through Namibia for the programme Ant Middleton & Liam Payne: Straight Talking.
Middleton said during a live interview on Australia’s The Morning Show that it was ‘the first time hearing’ of Payne’s death at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
‘After we filmed Straight Talking With Ant Middleton, he was my first celebrity guest and we formed a brotherhood,’ Middleton told hosts Kylie Gillies and Larry Emdur.
‘He was like a younger brother to me. He would confide in me, I’d go around and see him.
‘There were some issues there, but nothing that a young celebrity at his calibre wouldn’t suffer from.
‘I’m just shocked at the moment, wow, don’t really know what to say.’
Middleton said Payne ‘had a lovely aura around him’, describing him as a ‘lovely guy’.
‘He had positive energy around him,’ the 44-year-old said.
(From left) Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan (seated) Liam Payne and Harry Styles in 2010
Cheryl Cole and Payne at the Cannes Film Festival at Hotel Martinez on May 12, 2016
‘He was a visionary, he always thought and dreamed big, and that’s why he got to where he was, and he was loved.
‘He was one of those band members that was the glue, I believe, was the glue for One Direction, and it’s a shame to see such a positive individual die so young.’
Middleton added that he was away filming but wanted to ‘find out what’s happened to my good friend’.
Rylan Clark said Payne’s death was ‘so tragic’ on X, while fellow former X Factor contestants Jedward sent their love to Cheryl, his son Bear and ‘all the One Direction family’.
Socialite Paris Hilton also paid tribute on X, calling the singer’s death ‘so upsetting’, while BBC Radio 2 presenter Zoe Ball said ‘devastating news, dear Liam Payne’.
Payne and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl share a son Bear, born in 2017. He is pictured as a newborn
DJ and music producer Zedd, who featured alongside Payne on the 2017 song Get Low, called the singer’s death ‘absolutely heartbreaking’.
American singer and rapper Ty Dolla Sign said he will ‘miss’ Payne, captioning videos and pictures on his Instagram story: ‘Just talked to you two days ago my guy.’
Fellow boy band the Backstreet Boys also paid tribute, saying their hearts go out to ‘Directioners around the world’.
A statement on X added: ‘Words can not express the emotions we are collectively feeling right now, and it seems like the rest of the world is in the same boat.’
Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has described the death of Payne as ‘very sad news’.
She told Sky News this morning: ‘It’s very sad news, it’s no age for someone to lose their life, and my thoughts are with his friends and family, this must be a total shock for them and very, very upsetting.’
She said of his friends and family that ‘my thoughts are with them at what must be a really difficult time’.
A number of industry bodies joined those paying tribute, including streaming giant Spotify, MTV and the Brit Awards who all said in separate statements that they are ‘deeply saddened’ by Payne’s death.
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