The Recording Academy remembered Liam Payne during the 2025 Grammys on Sunday, February 2, nearly five months after his death.
Footage of Payne during his One Direction days was shown at the top of the In Memoriam segment. His voice could be heard as music played in the background.
“We never expected any of this to happen,” Payne said, before Chris Martin started singing. “We have done some amazing things.”
Payne was launched into fame alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, who met when One Direction was formed on U.K.’s The X Factor in 2010. They released four albums over the years before Malik’s departure from the group in March 2015. The remaining four members released their fifth album later that year before going on an indefinite hiatus in December 2015.
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Each member subsequently went their separate ways, kicking off solo singing careers over the years, but showing each other major support. Prior to his sudden October 2024 death, Payne was a huge champion for his former bandmates when it came to their music releases.
While Styles, Malik, Tomlinson and Horan were not in attendance during Sunday’s awards show, the remaining four members briefly reunited at Payne’s November 2024 funeral in England.
“[Liam’s death] was a wake-up call for all of them. Prior, they kept in touch sporadically but didn’t have close friendships at all,” a source told Us Weekly exclusively in December 2024. “They’re all still mourning but are checking in on each other and feel closer than they have in years. It brought them back together.”
Payne died at age 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires. The day following Payne’s death, Styles, Malik, Tomlinson and Horan released a joint statement to mourn their former bandmate. (Each singer also shared separate tributes on their own social media pages.)
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“We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say,” they said at the time. “But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
A preliminary autopsy stated that Payne’s cause of death was “multiple traumas,” including hemorrhages in his chest, skull and abdomen. It has also been widely reported that a partial autopsy found “pink cocaine” — a mix of methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — along with cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack in Payne’s system at the time of his death.
