Shawn Mendes. Noam Galai/Getty Images for MTV
An emotional Shawn Mendes paused his concert in Brooklyn to pay tribute to Liam Payne.
Mendes, 26, addressed the audience at the Paramount Theater on Friday, October 18, and said the news of Payne’s death two days before felt “completely devastating,” according to social media footage found online.
“I got to meet Liam a couple of times, and he was a beautiful soul and his eyes gleamed, it was beautiful,” the singer-songwriter told the crowd. “It’s about grieving those we miss with tears and it’s also about celebrating them and who they were and what they left in this world and I just want to take a second to send so much love to him wherever he is up there. Liam, we love you. The world is crying for you, brother, and we’re all praying for your son and your family. I miss you. This one’s for you tonight, Liam, from all of us.”
Billboard reported Friday that Mendes followed his remarks with a performance of his new song “Heart of Gold,” which he dedicated to Payne. The song’s chorus includes the lyrics “You had a heart of gold / You left too soon, it was out of your control/ Underneath your skin and bone / You had a heart of gold.”
Us Weekly confirmed that Payne died at age 31 on Wednesday, October 16, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The singer sustained a cranial fracture and other serious injuries that were too severe for emergency treatment. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Payne leaves behind 7-year-old son Bear, whom he shared with ex-girlfriend Cheryl Cole.
Shawn Mendes talking about Liam Payne and dedicating ‘Heart Of Gold’ to him tonight at #ForFriendsAndFamilyOnly Brooklyn 💛 pic.twitter.com/ohSljOUvVb
— The Mendes Updates (@TheSMendesUpdt) October 19, 2024
“As I try to navigate this earth-shattering event and work through my own grief at this indescribably painful time, I’d like to kindly remind everyone that we have lost a human being,” wrote Cole, 41, breaking her silence via Instagram on Friday. “Liam was not only a pop star and celebrity, he was a son, a brother, an uncle, a dear friend and a father to our 7-year-old son. A son that now has to face the reality of never seeing his father again.”
Payne and Cole dated from 2016 to 2018 after initially meeting in 2008 while Payne was a contestant on The X Factor UK. At the time, Cole — who is a member of the girl band Girls Aloud — was a judge on the series. Payne returned to the show two years later in 2010, when Simon Cowell famously put him together with Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson to form One Direction.
Cowell, 65, took to Instagram on Friday to reflect upon a meeting he had with Payne last year where they “reminisced about all the fun times we had together. And how proud you were to be a dad. After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I met all those years ago.”
He added of Bear, “He has your smile and that twinkle in his eyes you have. He will be so proud of everything you achieved. And how you achieved it.”