Harry Styles Shares Emotional Tribute to Late Bandmate Liam Payne

Harry Styles just broke his silence regarding the tragic death of former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.

As Parade previously reported, Payne died suddenly after falling from a balcony at his hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Wednesday, Oct. 16. He was 31 years old.

Following the devastating news, the members of One Direction released a joint statement before they each began posting their own personal tributes to Payne. Styles, 30, later expressed his condolences in a separate post on Thursday evening, sharing an emotional tribute to Instagram, memorializing his late friend.

"I am truly devastated by Liam's passing," the "Watermelon Sugar" singer began the post, which included a shot of Payne performing in front of thousands of fans. "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," Styles' statement continued. "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."

Styles then sent his love to Payne's family, writing, "My heart breaks for [parents] Karen, Geoff, [siblings] Nicola and Ruth, his son Bear, and all those around the world who knew and loved him, as I did.

In the caption, Styles left just a simple black heart emoji.

"I just fell to my knees ….. 💔" one of Styles' heartbroken fans wrote in the comments.

"my heart is still aching," another follower wrote.

Before Styles issued the personal statement, his mother, Anne Twist, also took to social media to leave a simple yet heartbreaking message in the wake of Payne's passing.

Twist shared an image of a broken heart emoji on Wednesday evening, writing in the caption, "Just a boy... 💔."

Fellow One Direction members Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik also shared poignant statements about the tragic news on Thursday.

At the time of publication, Niall Horan had not yet issued a separate statement about Payne's untimely death, but his brother Greg did share a lengthy post in honor of Payne, writing on Instagram: "To say I’m heartbroken is an understatement a weird feeling this morning and all night you were a top young boy to a man a son a brother you are only one of 4 lads I was happy enough to take my place in nialls life as a brother you will be forever missed Liam."

He continued, "Words can’t describe how much I want to grab my brother and mind him now while the world shows their memories of you and him and the boys .my heart goes out to your family parents and sisters and your son Bear and your 1D brothers 10th October we met and we started out that evening as 5 families into one big one 1D family thank you for all the laughs bro watch down on the all your family and mind them lots of love kiddo x x x 1D 4 LIFE x x x ❤️❤️❤️❤️."

Next: One Direction Fans Slam Wikipedia's Insensitive Response to Liam Payne's Death