Justin Bieber has paid heartbreaking tribute to Liam Payne – five days after his shock death aged 31.
The singer, 30, who alongside the boyband dominated the charts in the 2010s, shared a somber video of floral tributes and messages laid in Liam’s memory – with the message: ‘Rest easy, Liam.’ This was followed by a broken heart emoji.
The One Direction star plunged from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday, and died instantly from multiple injuries that led to ‘internal and external haemorrhaging’.
A voiceover on the clip said: ‘Just remember: you are allowed to grieve as a fan. You are allowed to love someone you’ve never met.
‘You are allowed to admire someone for their art. You are allowed, to cry, to break, to feel like a part of you is gone.’
Liam and Justin had a chart rivalry which became a fully fledged feud after a YouTube video showed Payne appearing to make a dig at the Canadian singer.
But, despite their initial feud, Liam previously revealed how he and Bieber eventually connected and learnt they had much more in common than their boyish charm and good looks.
In a segment on a podcast with YouTube star Logan Paul filmed in 2022, which has resurfaced in the wake of his tragic death, the One Direction member revealed he had reached out to Bieber in an attempt to end the feud, and alluded to some of the striking parallels between the pair in the early days of their careers
The British boyband sold more than 70 million records worldwide while Bieber has sold more than 150 million.
Speaking on Logan Paul’s podcast Impaulsive in 2022, Payne told his side of the story as he recalled speaking on Instagram while ‘drunk’, when somebody mentioned Justin Bieber’s name.
Payne recalled: ‘I was like, “well the only thing between me and him is I haven’t been arrested”,’ noting in the same breath that he didn’t ever intend to offend Bieber.
He added: ‘It started some beef.
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Payne recalled how the feud, which began online, began to spill into real life because One Direction and Bieber shared some fans and the stars themselves would often bump into each other at awards ceremonies.
However, he noted one particular awards ceremony when both the band and Bieber were there, and Liam thought: ‘I’ll have a chat with him’ in order to settle the conflict.
Speaking about Bieber at the time, Liam noted: ‘He had grown as a person.’
He then recalled telling Bieber: ‘I’ve always felt for you… 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,’.
He then claimed he told the Canadian singer how, while he was able to lean on his bandmates in times of strife, Bieber was a solo artist who may not have had the same support system.
Payne claims Bieber’s response was: ‘Bro, that’s given me chills.’ From there, the pair became friends.
