Liam Payne is honoured in memoriam on the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame
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Liam Payne was given a special mention on Saturday evening as this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were named in Cleveland, Ohio.
The former One Direction star fell to his death from a third-floor balcony in Argentine capital Buenos Aires on Wednesday, aged just 31.
While an investigation into the events leading up to the incident is ongoing, the British singer was included among the annual event’s memorials at Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
An image of Payne, taken during his early days with One Direction, was projected into the auditorium, prompting wild cheers from those in attendance.
The singer died instantly after plunging 45ft from his third-floor hotel room balcony onto the patio below at 5.04pm on Wednesday.
Liam Payne was given a special mention on Saturday evening as this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees were named in Cleveland, Ohio
The former One Direction star fell to his death from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires on Wednesday, aged just 31
Police found drugs in his room including ‘cristal’, a potent hallucinogenic that causes blackouts and psychotic episodes.
A source told MailOnline: ‘Where did Liam get the drugs when he had no money?’
The source also revealed:
- Liam had been ‘re-working’ his favorite One Direction track ‘Fireproof’ on his computer just hours before his death.
- He was in Argentina to renew his US visa and had passed medical and psychological tests days before which proved he was ‘totally clean.’
- He was in ‘good spirits’ and had been planning to fly back home to girlfriend Kate Cassidy in Miami on Friday.
- His final meal was his favourite, chocolate-chip cookies.
Multiple police sources have said investigators believe someone in the hotel supplied him with drugs.
There have been unconfirmed reports that the hotel conducted an internal probe and fired at least one employee.
Payne arrived in Argentina on September 30 with his girlfriend Kate and close friend Roger Nores.
The source said: ‘Liam’s US visa was expiring and he had to leave America to renew it so he decided to go to Buenos Aires to see Niall Horan perform and get his new visa.’
But when Payne went to the US embassy in Buenos Aires the week before last he found officials had Googled him and discovered he had spent multiple stints in rehab for drugs and alcohol.
The One Direction star fell from a third floor balcony at the CasaSur hotel (seen in a drone image)
Vigils have been held across the world in the days Payne died. One is pictured in Stockholm, Sweden, on Saturday
A source close to the late singer has said that he did not commit suicide and could have been saved
Payne was initially in Argentina with girlfriend Kate Cassidy (right) before she left for the US in the days before he died
‘They ordered him to do medical tests, see a doctor, do bloodwork and x-rays and see a psychiatrist and that was all done the first week. Liam thought the trip would only last a few days but because of all the tests he ended up getting stuck there.’
After spending last weekend at a polo farm outside Buenos Aires, girlfriend Kate Cassidy flew back to Miami on Monday to care for the couple’s dog while Liam checked into the CasaSur hotel.
‘He had no money and his credit cards weren’t working, so he was spending all his time in the room.
‘On Tuesday he asked for a McDonald’s. He was happy and in good spirits.
‘The test results all came back totally clean on Tuesday and he had an appointment at the embassy to get his passport stamped with the visa on Thursday and then he was going to leave Argentina immediately.’
The source said a family friend visited him around 10:00am that morning to deliver his favourite ‘American style’ chocolate-chip cookies from a bakery three blocks from the hotel.
‘He seemed a bit tipsy, like he had been drinking, but wasn’t in a bad state. He was happy.
Kicking off the event on Saturday, Dua Lipa took the stage and performed in a chic, leather halter dress with dramatic thigh-high slits that exposed her hips and accentuated her legs
Cher (pictured) was also among this year’s inductees into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
‘He was replicating Fireproof on his computer. He loved recreating instrumentals and that was his favourite One Direction song.
‘He was redoing the beat. He was in a good place, planning for the future, looking forward to going home to Miami to his girlfriend and his dog.’
Cher, Mary J. Blige and Ozzy Osbourne were among this year’s Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees, an elite group formally introduced into the music pantheon Saturday at a star-studded concert gala.
Kool & the Gang, Dave Matthews Band, Foreigner, A Tribe Called Quest, and Peter Frampton round out the 2024 class of honorees, artists honored at the ceremony held in Cleveland, Ohio, home of the prestigious hall.
Big Mama Thornton, Alexis Korner and John Mayall received special honors for “musical influence,” as Jimmy Buffett, MC5, Dionne Warwick and Norman Whitfield received awards for “musical excellence.”
Suzanne de Passe, a trailblazer for women executives in the music business, who was big in Motown, won the night’s award for non-performing industry professionals.
Payne rose to fame with band One Direction. He is pictured with bandmates (left-right) Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik
Dua Lipa kicked off the evening with a performance of Believe, with Cher joining the pop star onstage to finish her 1998 smash hit, which was credited as the first song to use auto-tune technology as an instrument.
‘I changed the sound of music forever,’ she said in her acceptance speech, less than a year after railing against the hall for not having yet added her to the ballot.
‘It was easier getting divorced from two men than it was getting in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,’ she quipped on Saturday night.
Performers included Kelly Clarkson, Sammy Hagar, Slash and Demi Lovato, who all appeared for Foreigner.
A group of artists including Queen Latifah, De La Soul and Busta Rhymes also performed with the surviving members of the eclectic, pioneering hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest — Q-Tip, Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Jarobi White.
