“Liam Payne’s Parents Kept a Heartwarming Tradition Whenever He Was Away”

Liam Payne’s parents have a sweet tradition each time he is on tour that keeps them attached to their son no matter how far the distance is.

The entire world has been thrown into mourning after the sad news of the passing of Liam Payne, a former member of One Direction, reached the shores on October 16 in Argentina.

Local reports cite that the 31-year-old singer died after falling from the third-floor balcony of the CasaSur hotel in Buenos Aires, which is about 40 meters from the ground. Payne was in Argentina to attend the concert of his former bandmate Niall Horan. Emergency services stated that he was given severe injuries incompatible with life.

It wasn’t long after the sad news was announced that famous faces started paying their respects to the “Best Song Ever” star, among them Anne Twist, mum to Harry Styles, who paid a touching three-word message in memory of Payne, himself a father.

Payne was raised in Wolverhampton and burst into fame when he appeared in the seventh season of ITV’s The X Factor. During the show in 2010, at a young age of 16, he sang “Cry Me a River,” but got selected into One Direction, together with other boys: Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson after Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger’s interference.

The group went on to place third in the competition but rocketed to international fame, releasing four No. 1 albums and touring the world before announcing a hiatus in 2016.

As the band One Direction gained more and more popularity, the parents of Payne, Geoff, and Karen gushed about their son but at the same time told of how much they missed their son. In their 2013 documentary This Is Us, Karen told the filmmakers they have a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Liam in their living room so he can remain close while on tour.

“We miss him,” Karen said. “He left home as my little boy and became the boy in a magazine. Having this helps me see him every day. When I watch him on stage I burst with pride, but we miss him so much.”

Geoff added, “It’s not just the mums who struggle—it’s the dads too. He’s the only boy in the family and this time with him is gone. I can’t even give him advice because he’s seen more of the world than I have.”

Shortly after Payne’s death, Alberto Crescenti-head of the state emergency medical system-confirmed that the alarm was raised at 5:04 p.m. local time that one person was lying in an internal patio at CasaSur.

“An ambulance arrived at 5:11 p.m., and the man was pronounced dead at the scene,” Crescenti said. “It was only later we realized he had been a well-known singer. His injuries were unfortunately fatal, and there was no hope of resuscitating him.”