CNN
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London’s Hyde Park was one of many a number of websites around the globe this weekend for an outpouring of affection, grief and recollection in honor of Liam Payne, the previous One Route boy band member who tragically fell to his death at a lodge in Buenos Aires final week on the age of 31.
Crowds gathered close to the park’s Peter Pan statue, the place they positioned handwritten letters, teddy bears, balloons, images and flowers, in accordance with photos shared from the memorial. The scene created what regarded like a scrapbook of each the singer’s life and the followers whose lives he touched.
A number of followers on the memorial advised CNN that with the ability to mourn Payne with different 1D followers gave them a way of neighborhood and a sense that they had been amongst household.
The temper seemed to be each somber and celebratory. Some followers held one another as they cried. One group of individuals advised CNN they’d been amassing notes from different followers in a journal they hoped would at some point attain Payne’s household.
At instances, attendees would sing among the band’s best-known songs, together with “Story of My Life,” “Evening Adjustments” and “That’s What Makes You Beautiful,” in accordance with footage posted on-line.
The Hyde Park memorial is one in every of many fan-organized vigils held all through the weekend, with Payne’s supporters paying tribute to the singer in London, Japan, Australia and US, amongst others. Within the wake of Payne’s loss of life, One Route’s supporters, as soon as connected in their youthful appreciation of the band, are coming again collectively in particular person and on-line.
In Paris, mourners gathered round and sang together with a person who performed an acoustic model of One Route’s music “Little Issues,” video footage confirmed.
“In case you ever really feel alone, don’t. You had been by no means by yourself,” learn one note, citing the lyrics from 1D’s music “Don’t Neglect The place You Belong,” left on the memorial held in Milan on Sunday.
One younger lady who attended a tribute in New York Metropolis advised CNN affiliate WCBS, “It feels good to know we’re not alone in it, as a result of I feel it’s essential to encompass your self with individuals who perceive what you’re going by way of.”
Whereas some have gathered at one of many many memorials all through the UK and the US, others are connecting on social media.
One Route fan accounts, notably on X, had been fashionable hubs for information and neighborhood engagement through the group’s heyday within the early 2010s.
Joseph Azar, who created @1DAlert on X again when the positioning was referred to as Twitter, advised CNN final week that they slowly stopped utilizing the account after the members of One Route announced their hiatus in 2015. At its peak, the account had greater than 450,000 followers.
When Azar heard the information about Payne’s loss of life final week, he mentioned he didn’t know what to do or who to speak to. Then he remembered 1000’s of individuals nonetheless adopted @1DAlert and “I knew this was the perfect place for me to be.”
“I knew that not solely did I want this account to mourn, however 1000’s of different folks did too,’ he mentioned.
Azar mentioned since restarting the account, many individuals have reached out to say how comfortable they had been to see that the account was energetic once more however unhappy given the circumstances. Azar organized a listening celebration on Thursday evening to rejoice Payne’s music and songwriting.
“I hope I’ve been capable of provide some peace for fellow followers,” Azar mentioned.
This story is creating and can be up to date.