Jack Grealish pays moving tribute to Liam Payne with moving Instagram post

Jack Grealish has released a heartfelt message in response to the news that Liam Payne has died at the age of 31.

The former One Direction star fell from the third floor of a Buenos Aires hotel on Wednesday. Emergency services found him “seriously injured” and decided there was “no possibility of resuscitation” before pronouncing him dead at the scene.

Alongside a photo of Payne which read 'REST IN PEACE', Grealish wrote on Instagram: 'Awhhh no [crying emoji]. This is so sad man!! So sad!! Rip Liam Payne. I gotta start being kinder to each other in this world, man.”

Payne was born in Wolverhampton and supported West Bromwich Albion – local rivals of Grealish's boyhood club Aston Villa. The former pop sensation was also a football fan and twice took part in the high-profile charity match Soccer Aid, which pits celebrities and former footballers from England against a team from the rest of the world.

While training for last year's Soccer Aid, Payne impersonated Grealish by turning up with a headband and the City winger's signature hairstyle. “I’m actually going to chat with him later and get the real energy,” he said at the time.

Argentine police have opened a thorough investigation into the circumstances of Payne's death. Before his fall, the reception manager of the Casa Sur Palermo hotel, where he had been staying for three days, alerted the authorities: a guest “under the influence of drugs and alcohol was breaking everything in his room “.

“He is in a room with a balcony and we are concerned that he could do something that threatens his life,” they said during the call, according to The Independent.

Payne was a guest on the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021, where he spoke about his struggles with mental health and addiction.

“I was worried about how deep my bottom was going to be,” he said. “Where's the bottom for me? And you would have never seen it. I'm very good at hiding it. No one would have ever seen it.

“There were some things that I definitely never talked about. It was really, really, really bad. It was a problem. And it wasn't until I saw myself afterwards that I said, “Okay, I have to fix it myself.” My face was just 10 times bigger. [bloated] than it is now. I didn't like myself very much, then I changed.”