One Direction mourns loss of 'our brother' Liam Payne

Oct. 18 (UPI) -- In the band's first post since 2020, One Direction mourned the death of late member Liam Payne , who fell from a hotel balcony Wednesday in Buenos Aires.

"In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say," the band wrote on its Instagram Thursday. "But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly."

Within hours, that post had 351,000 comments. Heartbroken fans expressed variations of the sentiment that "this is not the reunion I wanted."

The former members of One Direction -- Niall Horan , Harry Styles , Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik -- also wrote individual tributes on Instagram, remembering Payne's friendly nature and his talent.

"Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious," Styles wrote. "He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving."

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Horan expressed gratitude for the opportunity to see Payne recently when the singer attended Horan's concert in Argentina.

"I sadly didn't know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever," Horan wrote. "It's heartbreaking."

Horan remembered Payne as someone who "always made everyone feel happy and secure," writing that the connection they shared "doesn't happen often in a lifetime."

Tomlinson said that, though he was two years older than Payne, he had always "looked up to" his former bandmate, who became a brother to him.

"Liam was an incredible song writer with a great sense of melody," Tomlinson wrote. "We often spoke of getting back in the studio together to try and recreate the writing chemistry we had built u in the band."

He added, "Liam was in my opinion the most vital part of One Direction. His experience from a young age, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thank you for shaping us Liam."

Malik, who left One Direction in 2015, echoed Tomlinson's sentiment.

"Even though you were younger than me you were always more sensible than me..." he wrote. "When it came to the music Liam, you were the most qualified in every sense. I knew nothing in comparison, I was a novice child with no experience and you were already a professional. I was always happy to know, no matter what happened on stage we could always rely on you to know which way to steer the ship next."

One Direction has been on hiatus since 2016. Together, the group created five albums.

Payne released his debut solo album, LP1 , in 2019. In March, he released the single "Teardrops" ahead of his sophomore album.