Hundreds of One Direction fans gathered in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday to pay their respects to Liam Payne, the former member of the British-Irish boy band who died on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Despite rainy weather, the queue to get in front of the park’s Peter Pan statue — where fans young and old were placing flowers, heart-shaped balloons and letters in memory of Payne — stretched back as far as the eye could see. Minute-long moments of silence were held every hour on the dot, when the crowd got so quiet one could hear a pin drop. At other times, spontaneous singalongs would break out, with throngs of fans shouting the lyrics to One Direction hits including “Best Song Ever,” “What Makes You Beautiful” and “History.”
The emotion in the air was palpable, with the sea of fans containing many tear-streaked faces and the occasional cry ringing out. Jordi, 24, choked up telling Variety how One Direction helped her find a community during adolescence.
“I was thinking about it on the train here, and I think my love for this band has been the only constant that I’ve had,” she said. Jordi admitted that, while working at luxury department store Selfridges, she dreamed of bumping into Payne to tell him: “You are so loved, you are so needed here, you are so worthy of good things and you are worthy of help.”
Payne had been open about his struggle with addiction both during his time in One Direction and after the band’s breakup in 2016. His tragic fall came after the police were called on “an aggressive man who could be under the effects of drugs and alcohol,” according to a statement from local authorities.
“I think because I struggle with my own mental health, I just felt like I could see what he was thinking and what he was going through. I could see that pain, and I just wanted to be like, ‘I see you. I get you,’” Jordi said. “And it just breaks my heart that it’s ended this way. It doesn’t feel real. It doesn’t feel right.”
During the memorial, friends embraced friends and even strangers hugged strangers, knowing that everyone was there for the same purpose. When one teenage girl fainted in the crowd, she was helped to safety by onlookers who then offered her sips of water from their own bottles. Others passed back cookies and sweet treats to help her get her blood sugar up.
Freya, 17, said Payne’s superpower was keeping the dream of One Direction alive and the fans together.
“I feel like he was really meant to be on the stage,” she said through tears. “Even when he left the band, he always found a way to keep connected to fans and he always kept this hope between the fans that there was going to be a reunion one day.”
We hugged as Freya gathered herself and showed me what she had brought for Payne: a dozen roses, a balloon with One Direction’s logo on it and a handwritten letter. At the top of the note was the quote: “What are we but shooting stars, hoping to shine long enough to make at least one soul believe in magic.”
“He just was a star that burnt out too soon,” she said.