‘I wish I got chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you’
Louis Tomlinson has paid tribute to his One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, who died Wednesday at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Tomlinson continued his tribute by addressing Payne directly, writing, “A message to you Liam if you’re listening, I feel beyond lucky to have had you in my life but I’m really struggling with the idea of saying goodbye. I’m so grateful that we got even closer since the band, speaking on the phone for hours, reminiscing about all the thousands of amazing memories we had together is a luxury I thought I’d have with you for life.”
Tomlinson added that he “would have loved to share the stage with you again but it wasn’t to be.”
“I want you to know that if (Payne’s seven-year-old son) Bear ever needs me I will be the Uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was. I wish I got chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you.”
Tomlinson ended his message by calling Payne “one of my best friends” and a “brother.”
“I love you mate,” he wrote. “Sleep well.”
Payne’s family said they were “heartbroken” in a statement shared through his representative.
“We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” his family said. “We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”
In a joint statement, Payne’s One Direction bandmates said they’re “completely devastated.”
The band didn’t address the circumstances surrounding Payne’s death, simply adding, “In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say.”
“We have a guest who is (allegedly) high and drunk; and when he is conscious, he is destroying his room and we need you to send someone, please. We need you to send someone urgently because I don’t know if his life is in danger,” the hotel manager said.
“They must be in a room that has a balcony. And well, we’re a little bit worried he’ll do something, that he’ll put his life at risk,” he said.
Payne reportedly “smashed his laptop, and had to be carried back to his room.”
By the time medical personnel arrived, Payne’s body was on the ground outside the hotel with La Nacion reporting that “a bottle of whiskey, a lighter and a cellphone” were also found at the scene.
Unverified photos taken of his alleged hotel room showed a chaotic scene with a smashed television and discarded foil and a white powder, which police will test to see if it is cocaine, La Nacion reported.
As police aim to pull together a timeline of Payne’s final hours, they interviewed two women who were with the singer earlier in the day.
— With files from the Associated Press