Hundreds gather in central London to mourn the death of singer Liam Payne

LONDON – Hundreds of people gathered in London’s Kensington Gardens on Sunday to mourn Liam Payne while fans around the world cried for him an address Singer who died this week.

The Directioners, as supporters of the hugely successful boy band are known, left tributes in London, Glasgow, Paris, Sydney and New York this weekend as they celebrated the life of the 31-year-old man who died on Wednesday after falling from the balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires.

In London, they clapped and sang after gathering near a statue of Peter Pan, the fictional boy who never grew up created by JM Barrie. Mourners, mostly young women, left heart-shaped balloons, photographs and flowers at the base of the statute, which sits next to a narrow path next to a canal known as The Long Water.

Mindful of the crowds in the limited space, organizers asked fans to leave their tributes and then move away to allow others to approach the statue.

Fans Lauren Anderson and Natasha Bradley, both 23, said they wanted to be with others who shared their pain.

“Your parents don’t really understand how much (One Direction) really meant to you growing up,” Bradley said, explaining why he came to the park.

The vigils followed those held outside the Hotel Casa Sur in the posh Palermo neighborhood of Argentina’s capital, immediately after Payne fell from his third-floor hotel room. The four surviving members of One Direction issued a joint statement saying they were “completely devastated” by the death of their bandmate.

One Direction rose to global popularity shortly after the band was formed in 2010 from five young singers who auditioned for the X Factor, a British television talent show. The band broke up in 2016 after producing five albums that sold more than 70 million copies.