Maggie Rogers has joined the tributes of fans and musicians following the death of late solo singer Liam Payne at the age of 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Wednesday. A tribute to Liam Payne.
“Especially this week, I’ve been thinking about how precious life is and how quickly things change,” the singer said while sitting at the piano, as seen in a fan-posted video of the special moment. She said she was getting ready to go to dinner with an old friend – whom she had known since she was nine – when the man walked into the room and told her about Payne’s death. “We’re about the same age,” Rogers, 30, said. Lots of love over the past few days…I want to pay tribute to those who have been touched [One Direction’s] Music or those songs.
She then launched into a hushed piano and vocal cover of 1D’s “Night Changes,” the final single from the band’s penultimate album (2014’s). Four. “We’re just getting older, baby/I’ve been thinking about this lately/Does it drive you crazy/How quickly the night changes?” she sings, to a roar of approval from the hushed crowd. “Everything you’ve ever dreamed / will be gone when you wake up / but there’s nothing to fear / even if the night changes / it’ll never change you and me.”
Rogers is the latest artist to pay tribute to Payne.
On Thursday, Penn’s former 1D bandmates – Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan – released a joint statement mourning the loss of their brother and “The memories we shared with him will be cherished forever,” he said. In addition, all four living members have provided their own personal statements, as have members of Payne’s family and his former school.
Before Rogers posted her tribute, Rita Ora paid tribute to her former duet partner, just hours after news broke that Rogers had died during a concert in Japan. Ora struggled to understand the lyrics to “For You,” the collaborative single she recorded with Payne for “For You.” Fifty Shades of Gray Emancipation 2018 soundtrack.
A preliminary autopsy confirmed that Payne died from multiple trauma and internal and external bleeding caused by falling from the third floor of the Casa Sur hotel in Palermo, Argentina. Police are still investigating the incident, but initial reports say they found what appeared to be drugs and alcohol in the star’s cluttered room.
Watch Rodgers’ tribute to Payne below.
