The saddest reunion for One Direction: Stars are pictured 9 years in the past of their poignant last snap as a bunch of 5 – after coming collectively once more for the primary time at Liam Payne’s funeral

One Direction reunited in the most tragic of circumstances this week as they attended the funeral of their late band member, Liam Payne.

Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam were last seen together nine years ago at their final concert with Zayn.

The band performed to their adoring fans in Hong Kong with Zayn, who quit the band in the midst of their world tour in March 2015, and there’s not been a reunion of all five members since. 

But the remaining members of the beloved boyband came together again for the first time in almost a decade to pay their respects to Liam, who died last month aged 31 after falling from a balcony in Buenoes Aires.

While they may have met up privately behind closed doors, Liam’s funeral marked the first time the band have been seen together in public since the concert.

The closest they were came to a reunion was when Niall, Harry and Liam, attended Louis Tomlinson’s X Factor tribute to his late mother in 2022, but Zayn was absent.  

Harry, Niall, Louis and Zayn were all pictured arriving at the private service, which was held St. Mary’s Church in the town of Amersham, northwest of London.

While the band had well-documented differences, they put them aside to support each other and Liam’s family following his passing.

Their final concert together took place on March 18 in 2015, during the Asia leg of One Direction’s fourth world tour.

The group posed for a backstage pictured together with a group of fans at the concert, marking what may well be there last picture together. 

Two weeks prior, the band posed for their last official photo together at a Red Nose Day event.

Footage from the gig shows Zayn fighting tears as he performed some of the band’s most famous songs on stage with the group.

Zayn announced a leave of absence from the tour due to stress but eventually announced he would be leaving the band to ‘live life as a normal 22-year-old’.

Six days after what became their last ever gig, Zayn sent shockwaves throughout the music industry when he announced he was stepping away from the band.

In a statement, Zayn told fans: ‘I’d like to apologise to the fans if I’ve let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right in my heart. 

‘I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight. I know I have four friends for life in Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall. I know they will continue to be the best band in the world.’

At a subsequent concert in Jakarta, fans spotted Harry wiping away tears as they performed as a quartet for the first time.

Harry was comforted by Liam during his on stage breakdown, while Louis put his around an imaginary figure, as if Zayn was standing right next to him.

In spite of the huge blow to the band following Zayn’s departure, they continued their tour and wrapped up in Sheffield on October 31, 2015.

Following their last show, Niall said:  ‘I can tell you this, we will be back,

While Liam added: ‘This is the end of the On The Road Again Tour, not the end of One Direction.’

A few months later in January 2016, they announced that they would be going on an indefinite hiatus, explaining that they wanted to focus on solo projects.

The band insisted they would remain together and planned to work together again in the future.

Liam spoke openly about what a difficult period it had been for him and the others, because Zayn had left without saying a proper goodbye in a 2019 GQ interview. 

He said: ‘I think with Zayn’s particular exit and the way he chose to go, we haven’t really heard from him since he left. He didn’t even say goodbye. It’s difficult.’

‘For Zayn, he loves music and he’s an amazing talent. He genuinely was the best singer in One Direction, hand on heart, out of all of us.

‘But for him to get to a point where, you know, he can’t step on a stage? It’s a lot. I mean, he’s doing great. His streaming numbers are ridiculous, but I do think he misses out on the performance side a bit, you know. He can’t seem to get past that part. We all have it.’

Sharing more about his reasons to leave last year, Zayn blamed his competitive nature and admitted he wanted to be first to put out a solo record.

He said: ‘I just seen it [coming] and I completely selfishly wanted to be the first person to go and make my own record. If I’m being completely honest with you, I was like, “I’m going to jump the gun here”.

‘I’m a passive dude, but when it comes to my music and my business, I’m serious about it, and I’m competitive, so I wanted to be the first to go and do my own thing. That was the reason.’ 

Zayn has spoken of his anguish at never having the chance to thank Liam for giving him support during ‘difficult’ times in his life.

The singer postponed his Pillow Talk tour in the wake of the news about his former bandmate and attended his funeral on Wednesday.

Zayn moved his Edinburgh shows on November 20 and 21 until next month, seemingly so he could attend Liam’s funeral.

In a personal tribute to Liam, Zayn addressed their rocky relationship and ‘butting heads’ but admitted he ‘secretly respected’ him. 

Zayn said: ‘I was always happy to know, no matter what happened on stage we could always rely on you to know which way to steer the ship next. 

‘I lost a brother when you left us, and I can’t explain to you what I’d give to just give you a hug one last time and say goodbye to you properly and tell you that I loved and respected you dearly.

‘I will cherish all the memories I have with you in my heart forever, 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. Love you bro.’

Niall was the last of the band to see and speak to Liam, when he attended Niall’s gig in Argentina days before Liam’s death.

Liam, who was joined by his girlfriend Kate Cassidy, attended the ‘lovely night’ at Movistar Arena in the Argentinian capital. 

Reflecting on their last evening together, Niall said: ‘We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime.

‘I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.’

In one backstage snap, Liam and the Irish singer seemed in high spirits as they posed for a selfie together and Liam captioned the snap with: ‘Reunited’.

The late One Direction star also showed his support for his pal as he shared several videos and snaps of him performing on stage to thousands of fans.

He captioned them with: ‘So happy I got to see Niall in concert (love heart emoji).’

A source told Dailymail.com: ‘When Liam attended Niall’s show earlier this month, he really wanted to just tell him he was proud of him, and it was genuine.’

The source added the two of them had the chance to some spend time together, and ‘at the end there was nothing but love between them.’

‘Niall was so grateful for him coming to support him and his music,’ they added.

‘Their bond was unbreakable at the end and their friendship ended on a good note, so to speak.’

Louis also more recently spent time with Liam and the late star attended the premiere of his documentary, All of Those Voices.

In the days after his death, Louis described Liam as a ‘brother’ and made promises to look out for his seven year old son, Bear. 

Louis said: ‘I want you to know that if Bear ever needs me I will be the Uncle he needs in his life and tell him stories of how amazing his dad was. I wish I got chance to say goodbye and tell you one more time how much I loved you. Payno, my boy, one of my best friends, my brother, I love you, mate. Sleep well X’.

Meanwhile, Harry wrote: ‘I am truly devastated by Liam’s passing. His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it. Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious. He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving.

‘The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend. My heart breaks for Karen, Geoff, Nicola and Ruth, his son bear, and all those around the world who knew and loved him, as I did.’