LONDON, Oct 19 — “You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens.”
TV personality Simon Cowell took to Instagram today, to share a heart-wrenching tribute to the late One Direction star, Liam Payne.
“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.”
“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.”
Cowell is largely credit for Payne and One Direction's success after first meeting the then aspiring singer in 2008 as a contestant on The X Factor.
While Payne did not make it through then, he was welcomed in 2010, when Cowell assembled the quintet consisting of Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan.
The group only finished in third for the show, but Cowell signed One Direction to his Syco Records and the boyband went on to sell over 70 million records worldwide during their time together between 2010 and 2016.
View this post on InstagramA post shared by Simon Cowell (@simoncowell)
Cowell shared about his last meeting with Payne.
“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 had met all of those years ago.”
Cowell said that he has met Payne’s 7-year-old son, Bear, and “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.”
Payne died at the age of 31 on Wednesday after falling from a third-story balcony at his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
On Thursday, Britain’s Got Talent, the show Cowell is currently a judge on, canceled its auditions in Blackpool due to Payne’s death, reported Variety.
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