Fans of Liam Payne gathered in London’s Hyde Park on Sunday to collectively mourn the late One Direction star.
Around 800 to 1,000 people gathered around the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park on Sunday afternoon to grieve the singer, who died on Wednesday aged 31 after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Argentina.
The mourning fans laid letters, pictures, balloons and flowers around the statue and emotionally sang renditions of One Direction songs What Makes You Beautiful and History. At another point, they all stood in silence to remember the British star.
Organiser Alicia Sinclair, 22, told BBC 5 Live that the boy band was “a light in a lot of people’s lives” and her favourite memories with her sister “are almost entirely revolving around One Direction”.
“There are a lot of people upset and it’s a good time for us to come together and be with people who understand,” she said. “So for me, it feels like, I guess like the end of us growing up together. That’s what makes it so hard.”
The London gathering was one of many vigils that have taken place across the U.K. and the world in the past few days. Memorials were held in Liverpool, Birmingham and Liam’s hometown Wolverhampton, while fans also tearfully gathered in Australia, Indonesia, Sweden, France and the Philippines.
The Strip That Down hitmaker was also briefly remembered during the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday. An image of Payne, taken during his early One Direction days, flashed up on the screens of the auditorium, prompting cheers from the audience.
