Justin Bieber has paid a touching tribute to Liam Payne in the aftermath of his tragic passing.
Justin took to Instagram Stories on Monday to reshare a fan reel with the message: “rest easy liam,” with a white heart and broken heart emoji.
The video showed fan-made tributes to Liam featuring flowers, handwritten notes, photos, balloons and other small offerings, and a voiceover said: “Just remember: you are allowed to grieve as a fan. You are allowed to love someone you never met. You are allowed to admire someone for their art. You are allowed to cry, to pray, to feel like a part of you is gone.”
(Image credit: Courtesy of Justin Bieber / Instagram)
Justin and Liam were connected in a simple way: they were both child stars growing up in the music industry at the same time.
According to Hello!, there was a bit of a disagreement between the two men at one time, after Liam made a passing comment about Justin being arrested. That incident happened in 2014, and the “Baby” singer later revealed that he was “hurting, unhappy, confused” at the time.
The two eventually made up, with Liam telling Justin: “Number one, I’ve done all the things that you’ve done and I’ve never been caught for any of them… number two, I’ve always really felt for you, mate, and I think in our situation we all suffer from the same disease.”
Liam sadly passed away after he fell from the balcony of his third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 16 October.
There has been an outpouring of love for the former One Direction singer following his death. As well as Justin, celebrities that paid tribute to the Wolverhampton-born star have included his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, his ex Cheryl, with whom he shares son Bear, as well as the four other members of One Direction: Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan.
The former boy band stars issued a joint message as well as individual ones to express their heartbreak over their friend’s passing.