“Liam, we will miss you”: more than a thousand fans of the British singer Liam Payne gathered this Sunday, October 20 in London, as around the world, in tribute to the member of the boy band One Direction who died on Wednesday in Argentina.
In London, they chose Hyde Park and the esplanade around the statue of Peter Pan – the boy who would not grow up -, in reference to the age of the singer, who died at only 31 years old just as he relaunched his solo career.
Many are young women, who have come to bring flowers and cards that they leave at the foot of the statue. A silver L-shaped balloon and others in the shape of hearts hang from it.
“We are losing part of our childhood”
“One Direction is an important part of all these people’s childhoods (…) We all grew up watching them on XFactor and after,” says Reema Shah, 27. “We are losing a part of our childhood,” she adds with a bouquet of yellow flowers in her hand.
Next to her, Alicia, a 22-year-old student, holds a large sheet of paper on which Liam Payne’s portrait is printed.
“I found it very important to meet with other people who understand how we feel,” he says.
As the gathering grows, the crowd sings songs by One Direction and Liam Payne, broadcast over a sound system. Some hug each other crying. They observe a minute of silence, waving their phones in the air with the lights on.
Despite the rain, some wrote messages on large sheets of paper placed on the ground: “Liam, you were so loved,” “We will miss you forever” or “We will love you forever, you saved so many of us.”
Fans march in front of the hotel where the tragedy occurred.
Liam Payne died on Wednesday after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a context of “alcohol and narcotics consumption,” according to the first results of the investigation.
In the past he had expressed his difficulties managing his fame and his problems with alcohol. He died from “multiple traumas” and “internal and external hemorrhages” and was in a state of “total or partial unconsciousness,” according to the medical report.
In Buenos Aires, fans continue to parade in front of the CasaSur hotel, in front of the altar dedicated to Payne, and visited by his father this Friday. They leave a flower or a message, take a photo, some crying.
Other demonstrations took place in many other countries, such as in Mexico City, Quito, the capital of Ecuador, or in several cities in Colombia.
In Paris, dozens of people paid tribute to him in the Tuileries gardens, and a tribute was organized in Birmingham, England, near Wolverhampton, where the singer was from.
All these “good memories”
“He had so many mental health problems, I think he will be happy to know that so many people loved him, that they are there for him,” says Luna Franco, 20, with tears in her eyes and a smile in her eyes. With the bouquet in her hand, this young Italian living in London speaks of the singer’s death as a “shock.”
Katie Etchells, 20, and Holly Cook, 19, became friends over their shared passion for One Direction. “He played such an important role in our childhood, I’m so grateful” for all these “good memories,” says Katie, dressed in a white T-shirt with a photo of the boy band One Direction.
For Shukhrat Turdikhodjaev, a 21-year-old musician, the crowd “shows that he was able to connect and unify so many different people.”
Source: BFM TV
