Simon Cowell has broken his silence in the wake of Liam Payne’s sudden death in Buenos Aires at the age of 31.
The former One Direction star died after falling 45ft to his death from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palmero Hotel in Argentina.
The music mogul met Payne when he auditioned for X Factor for the very first time at the age of 14.
The mourning music mogul released a touching tribute to the ‘kind, funny and talented’, pop star, who ‘never forgot the fans’.
He wrote: ‘You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens.
‘Liam, I am truly devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty.
‘And I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you.
‘This is so difficult to put in words right now. I went outside today, and I thought about so many times we had together.
‘I wanted to let you know what I would always say to the thousands of people who would always ask me.
‘What is Liam like? And I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused.
‘And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans.
‘I had to tell you when you were 14 that this wasn’t your time. And we both made a promise that we would meet again.
‘A lot of people would have given up. You didn’t. You came back and within months the whole world knew Liam.
‘And you never forgot the fans. I watched you spending so much time with people who had wanted to meet you. You really cared.
‘You came to see me last year. Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all of 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 of those years ago.
He continued: ‘I have met your son, Bear. He has your smile and that twinkle in his eyes you have.
‘And he will be so proud of everything you achieved. And how you achieved it.
‘I always thought of the 5 of you in the band as brothers. And reading their messages today I believe you were.
‘And now Liam, I can see the effect you had on so many people. Because you left us too soon.
‘Rest in peace my friend. And I am sending my love, thoughts and prayers to your family.
‘Simon X’
Before his sudden death at around 5pm (ART) , the pop star had been sttending his former bandmate Niall Horan’s tour in the Latin American country.
A heartbreaking video shows Liam Payne singing and dancing at the concert with his partner Kate Cassidy.
Following the gig, he posted a tragic picture with Niall to Snapchat captioned: ‘Reunited.’
Separate posts from the final moments of the star’s life showed him enjoying lunch in his hotel room, where he revealed the pair had been ‘waking up at 1pm every day’ and deciding on Forest Gump as a Halloween costume.
A further tragic selfie was captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina’ before the star shared a photo of his hotel, writing: ‘Happy I got some time away’ followed by a heart emoji.
He shared a further photo with Kate captioned: ‘Quality time.’
Liam began his pursuit to stardom when he initially auditioned for X Factor in 2008.
At only 14-years-old Liam impressed judges with his own version of Fly Me To The Moon by Frank Sinatra – but was later eliminated from the show.
However Payne gave his singing career another go auditioning for the competition again in 2010, where he quickly shot to fame as part of One Direction.
He and his former bandmates Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, were brought together by Simon Cowell and former judge Nicole Scherzinger who saw their potential as a group.
After just a few weeks of getting to know each other and non-stop rehearsing, the group impressed Simon at their Judge’s Houses audition and sailed through to the live shows.
The pop Svengali later admitted to Rolling Stone that it took him ‘about a millionth of a second’ to spot the group’s worldwide potential.
The fan reaction was instant too, with 1D hysteria soon dwarfing the show. Despite the adoration, the band ultimately finished in third place on the X Factor but shortly afterwards Cowell sealed their fate by signing the fivesome to a reported £2million Syco contract.
Keen to capitalise on the boys’ already devoted fanbase, Cowell moved quickly with recording for the band’s debut album beginning in January 2011.
By September of that year One Direction’s first single was released with What Makes You Beautiful soaring to number one on the UK Singles Chart, after becoming the most pre-ordered Sony Music Entertainment single in history.
Their debut album, Up All Night was also a best seller, becoming the UK’s fastest-selling debut album of 2011, with the record leading to their first tour which kicked off in the UK that December.
After Malik announced his departure from the band in 2016, the band members went their separate ways.
During their time as a group, One Direction won five Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, amassed over three billion YouTube views and sold 50 million records worldwide.
After releasing five albums with one of the biggest boybands of all time, Liam released his first solo album titled LP1 in 2019.
His singles Strip That Down co-written with Ed Sheeran climbed its way to number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart that same year.
Over the course of his music career, the popstar collaborated with the likes of J Balvin, French Montana, Dixie D’Amelio and A Boogie Wit da Hoodie.
He was previously in a relationship with British pop sensation Cheryl Cole and the pair welcomed their son Bear Grey on March 22, 2017. The parents later split in 2018.
Following his romance with Ms Cole, Liam had an on-and-off relationship with ex-fiancée Maya Henry, and the pair called it quits in May, 2022.
Fans have flocked outside the CasaSur Palmero Hotel in Argentina and have held several vigils in remembrance of the beloved pop star.