Liam Payne has been laid to rest.
About one month after Payne fell three stories from a hotel balcony to his death, friends, family members and loved ones gathered on Wednesday for a funeral service.
It was held in a 12th century church in the English countryside northwest of London.
Among the well-known names in attending at the sad gathering were Payne’s girlfriend, Kate Cassidy, along with his former One Direction bandmates: Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan.
The artist’s friend, James Corden, was also in attendance, and so was Simon Cowell — who helped launch the band’s career on The X Factor back in 2010 — and his fiancé, Lauren Silverman.
According to The Sun, Payne’s black casket had silver handles on it and was adorned with white roses.
A red floral tribute reading “son” and a white “daddy” were placed on top of a white carriage drawn by two horses with plumes, this same outlet reports.
As cited above, Payne died after falling multiple stories from a balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The singer was found to have drugs in his system and, by all official accounts, did NOT commit suicide.
On November 7, a press release by the National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No. 14 revealed that the former One Direction member’s toxicology results showed traces of “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his body.
Prosecutors also stated at this time that “self-harm of any kind and/or physical intervention by third parties were ruled out” as contributing factors in his death.
In a short statement following his death, Liam’s family said:
“We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”
A handful of other tributes have also gone viral of late, most notably to some from the members of One Direction themselves.
“We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. 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,” One Direction wrote in a group statement.
“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.”
Other statements of sadness and sorrow have included:
Charlie Puth: I am in shock right now. Liam was always so kind to me. He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I can not believe he is gone…… I’m so upset right now, may he rest in peace.”
Paris Hilton: “So upsetting to hear the news of @LiamPayne passing???? . Sending love and condolences to his family & loved ones. ????. RIP my friend.”
Juicy J: “R.I.P. Liam Payne wow I can’t believe it prayers up for the family.”
Olly Murs: “This news is devastating, am lost for words. 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 days and the tour we shared together.”
Ashley Iaconetti: “This is heartbreaking. He had one of my favorite boy band voices. I’ll always remember when my friend was turning me into a One Direction fan in grad school and she showed me their performance of ‘Gotta Be You’ on the X Factor.”
