Liam Payne Remembered by Charlie Puth, the Backstreet Boys and Other Musicians

On Wednesday, Liam Payne, 31, the pop star who rose to fame as a member of the British boy band One Direction, died after falling from the balcony of a hotel in Argentina.Hours later, the pop world was struggling to come to terms with the passing of a much-loved former member of one of the most successful boy bands of all time.Fans gathered outside the hotel in Buenos Aires where Payne had been staying to mourn his death, while on social media many posted tributes and memories.Some of pop music’s biggest stars did the same.Charlie Puth, the pop singer and songwriter, posted on Instagram, that he was “in shock” at the news.

Payne was “one of the first major artists I got to work with.I cannot believe he is gone,” Puth added.“Words cannot express the emotions we are collectively feeling right now,” the Backstreet Boys wrote on X, adding “our hearts go out to Liam’s family, friends and Directioners around the world.”Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones, who once performed with Payne on “The X Factor,” the British talent show on which Payne and One Direction rose to fame, said on the social media platform X that he was “shocked and saddened” about Payne’s death: “He will be dearly missed.”The reaction was especially strong in Britain.

Payne first auditioned on “The X Factor” as a solo artist in 2008, but found success when he returned in 2010, and Simon Cowell, the music executive and television personality, created One Direction by bringing Payne together with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.On Thursday morning, none of Payne’s former bandmates had issued public reactions to the news of his death, and their representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.A representative for Cowell also did not immediately respond to a request for comment.But on Instagram, Styles’s mother, Anne Twist, posted a picture of a broken heart emoji, with the caption “Just a boy …”...