5 Seconds of Summer’s Ashton Irwin Recalls Watching Liam Payne ‘Light Up Lives’ on One Direction Tour
Ashton Irwin is remembering his times with Liam Payne following the 31-year-old singer’s shocking death last week.
On Tuesday (Oct. 22) — six days after Payne suffered a fatal fall in Buenos Aires, Argentina — the 5 Seconds of Summer drummer opened up about the “sunken heart feeling” of losing his friend in a string of tweets. “Been thinking on my times with Liam and how kind he was to me, [whether] backstage, passing by at an airport, he always made the time,” Irwin wrote.
“I feel super confused by his passing and I’m finding it so hard to sum up the way it feels, such a massive loss for many,” the 30-year-old musician continued. “my thoughts are with his family, partner, and the other 1D guys, and all of you. I feel at times I had a front row seat back in the day to watching Liam light up lives with his performances with the band. Gone to soon. This is just horrible.”
Payne died Oct. 16 after falling from the third-story balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A recent preliminary autopsy report showed that he appeared to be alone at the time and suffered multiple traumas and hemorrhages upon impact. A follow-up toxicology test confirmed that the “Strip That Down” singer was under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he died, including a recreational drug called “pink cocaine” that mixes substances such as ketamine, MDMA, methamphetamine, cocaine, opioids and more.
Irwin and his 5SOS bandmates — Luke Hemmings, Michael Clifford and Calum Hood — opened for One Direction in 2014 on the Where We Are Tour. “We need to respect that we’re here to warm up the crowd for the headliner, which has sold out the stadium,” the drummer reflected on the experience in an interview with Billboard that year. “We do punk jumps and all that. We just don’t ever say ‘f—‘ onstage.”
Countless other musicians and Payne’s loved ones have also spoken out about the X Factor alum’s death over the past few days, including all four surviving members of 1D: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. In addition to making their own individual statements, the foursome posted a joint message reading, “We will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever.”
See Irwin’s tweets below.
Hannah Dailey
Billboard
