Simon Cowell Remembers Liam Payne: ‘Rest in Peace, My Friend’

Simon Cowell paid tribute to Liam Payne on Instagram, saying he’s “heartbroken” over the singer’s death.

Payne, 31, fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina on Wednesday.

Cowell was there at the start of Liam’s career as Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson formed the boy band One Direction on “X Factor,” and then signed with Simon’s record label Syco Records afterward. 

Now, the music mogul says, “I am truly devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty.”

He wrote, “I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you.”

Simon said when fans asked about Liam, he would tell them he was “kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused,” adding that the singer loved music and his fans.

Cowell recalled meeting Payne when he was 14 and telling him it wasn’t his time yet.

He wrote, “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.”

Cowell also recalled the last time he saw Payne. “You came to see me last year. Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all 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 those years ago.”

He added of Liam’s son Bear, 7, “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.”

Simon said he always saw the members of One Direction as “brothers,” adding, “reading their messages today I believe you were.”

He closed by saying, “Rest in peace my friend. And I am sending my love, thoughts and prayers to your family.”