Zayn Malik has spoken out for the first time after Liam Payne’s tragic death at 31.
On Thursday, the singer, 31, shared a heartbreaking photo of himself and Payne appearing to cuddle while sleeping on a tour bus.
“Love you bro,” he wrote, with a heart emoji.
On a second slide, Malik continued, “Liam, I have found myself talking out loud to you, hoping you can hear me, I can’t help but think selfishly that there were so many more conversations for us to have in our lives.”
He added, “I never got to thank you for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life. When I was missing home as a 17 yr old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let you know. that you were my friend and I was loved.”
The “Pillowtalk” singer continued, “Even though you were younger than me you were always more sensible than me you were headstrong, opinionated, and gave no f–ks about telling people when they were wrong. Even though we butted heads because of this a few times, I always secretly respected you for it.”
Malik went on to praise Payne’s musical talents as “the most qualified in every sense,” and continued, “I lost a brother when you left us and can’t explain to you what I’d give just to give you a hug one last time and say goodbye to you properly and tell you that I loved and respected you dearly.”
Malik ended his statement by saying he will “cherish” his memories with Payne. “There is no words that justify or explain how I feel right now other than beyond devastated. I hope that wherever you are right now you are good and are at peace and you know how loved you are.”
Payne and Malik first rose to fame after forming One Direction alongside Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson on “The X Factor” in 2010.
The group released four albums until Malik announced his departure from the band in March 2015.
During an interview that same year, Payne said of Malik’s exit: “He had to do what he had to do really, for himself. It’s fine.”
“We’re just going to carry on doing what we’re doing. We wish him all the best with whatever he goes into and stuff,” he continued. “We’ll just have to see what happens.”
After Malik left, One Direction released one last record before their indefinite 2016 hiatus.
In 2017, Payne said all was “fine and good” with Malik despite the “Pillowtalk” singer’s negative comments about being part of the band.
“If he feels hurt and scorned in some sort of way that I don’t really understand, that’s down to him so there we go,” Payne stated on “The Dan Wootton Interview” podcast at the time. “It is very sad because One Direction was a wonderful, wonderful time in all of our lives.”
Three years later, Payne subtly shaded his former bandmate, saying on the “Killing It” podcast: “Zayn makes music, but he doesn’t really perform. For him, he had such performance anxiety that he just couldn’t put his head around it.”
But he also recalled watching Malik’s “really great” first solo performance after leaving the group.
“I think he is just kind of happy,” speculated Payne. “He likes going to the studio, making the songs, he just doesn’t want to do anything that happens after that. But he is streaming hugely.”
In September 2021, the light-hearted roasting continued after the “Strip That Down” artist posted a TikTok where he poked fun at Malik’s departure, telling fans they should “see the funny side” of it.
Payne could be seen mouthing the words: “Are we absolutely sure what direction we’re going?”
He wrote on the screen, “POV the meeting after Zayn quit.”
There has been turmoil between the band members over the years, with Payne’s ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, claiming that Malik was the One Direction member who allegedly “threw” her ex “up a wall” during a backstage fight at a concert years ago.
In a TikTok earlier this month, Henry responded to a video from a fan encouraging users on the platform to discuss “who we think threw Liam Payne up a wall.”
“OK, I see this all the time, everywhere,” she replied in the duet video. “I’ve heard this insufferable story so many times, and he told me it was Zayn, so.”
Payne had revealed in 2022 that he got into a spat with one of his fellow band members while on Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast.
“There was one moment where there was an argument backstage and one member in particular threw me up a wall,” he claimed, choosing not to reveal the identity of his bandmate at the time.
“So I said to him, ‘If you don’t remove those hands, there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again.’”
Although Payne did not share what led to their alleged altercation, he noted, “There’s many reasons why I dislike Zayn, and there’s many reasons why I’ll always, always be on his side.”
He ended up apologizing for the comments a month later.
“I wouldn’t normally comment on this stuff but when it’s your family it’s hard to let it slide,” Payne shared via X in June 2022. “They mentioned a specific incident involving Zayn which I responded to — but listening back maybe I didn’t articulate myself as well as I could have.”
He continued: “I was saying that there will always be things we disagree on but that I will always, always be on his side. That’s family. Zayn is my brother and I will stand by him forever.”
He addressed his “Impaulsive” podcast comments for a second time in a July 2023 YouTube video.
“A lot of what I said came from the wrong place,” he admitted. “I was so angry at what was going on around me and instead of taking a look inwards I decided to look outwards at everybody else and I just think, yeah, I took it out on everybody else, which is just wrong, really.”
Payne then addressed Malik by name, adding: “The rest of the boys really stuck by me when I needed them most, they kinda came to the rescue. Even Zayn, as well, which is why I did send him a little thank you online.”
In fact, a month earlier, Payne commented on a June 2023 Instagram post that showed Malik teasing new music.
“This sounds big already,” he wrote, to which Malik responded, “Appreciate it bro, thanks for the love.”
Years before Payne died, the singer spoke candidly about his time in One Direction on Jessie Ware’s podcast “Table Manners” in 2019.
Payne said that the boy band, which was formed during “The X Factor,” endured a “mess” of a schedule dealing with sold-out tours before an album was ever recorded.
“There’s no stop button,” he told Ware at the time. “You’ve got no control over your life. That’s why I lost complete control of everything.”
The late star found the split “really scary at first,” but happy that it was over.
“I needed to stop. It would’ve killed me,” Payne admitted.
Payne went on to have a solo career, releasing one album, “LP1,” in 2019. He reportedly paused the release of his second solo album shortly before his death.
After leaving One Direction, Payne noticed himself struggling to break the habits of partying and over-working that he developed while in the group.
The late artist decided, “You’re either going to end up a crazy child star who dies at whatever age, or you’re going to live life and actually get on with it.”