Zayn Malik paid tribute to his late One Direction bandmate Liam Payne on the first night of his UK tour.
READ MORE: Liam Payne 1993-2024: One Direction star who helped spark a pop phenomenon
The artist kicked off the tour in Leeds last night (November 23) and at the end of the show projected a tribute to Payne on the screen behind him. It contained his year of birth and death and the message ‘Love you bro’.
The image has been widely shared on social media.
The tribute was especially poignant given that the gig was taking place just three days after Payne’s funeral. Cheryl, the other members of One Direction and Simon Cowell were among those in attendance at the funeral in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, on Wednesday, just over a month after the singer died, aged 31.
Payne died on October 16 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, with an autopsy confirming that the singer had suffered internal and external bleeding and multiple traumatic injuries.
Zayn Malik’s tribute to Liam Payne at his concert in Leeds tonight. pic.twitter.com/6M2ft26rsx
— Remembering Liam Payne (@updatingljp) November 23, 2024
Malik’s tour was supposed to begin with two shows in Edinburgh earlier this week but they were rescheduled due to “unforeseen circumstances”. These would have likely been related to the funeral, which took place on the day the first Edinburgh show was originally scheduled for. Both shows will now take place on December 8 and 9.
Malik is also due to perform in London, Manchester, Wolverhampton and Newcastle until December 3.
The singer previously postponed the US leg of his tour over Payne’s death. He confirmed later that the shows would be rescheduled for January 2025.
In May, Malik played his first-ever solo show in London. After launching his solo career in 2016, he cancelled what was due to be his debut appearance in June that year, citing “the worst anxiety of my career”.
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