'Devastated' One Direction All Wanted To Be At Liam Payne's Funeral 'For Their Old Friend'

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'Devastated' One Direction All Wanted To Be At Liam Payne's Funeral 'For Their Old Friend'

The One Direction boys put their issues aside to be there for “old friend” Liam Payne.

Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan gathered in England on Wednesday to be at an intimate funeral for their late bandmate, who died in Argentina on October 16 after falling from his fourth-story hotel balcony.

This marked the first time the band had all been together publicly since 2015 when they held their final concert with Zayn. Additionally, the rest of the boys saw each other in December 2016 when they showed up to support Louis’ solo performance on The X Factor after his mother passed. So, it’s been a very long time since they were all in one place!

Related: Liam Was Wearing $30K Rolex Before Death — It’s Gone MISSING!

As you can imagine, it was a very difficult day for the singers, as a friend told DailyMail.com on Wednesday:

“It is absolutely tragic that the band had to come back together at a funeral for one of their own. They were once so close, but like in any group, fallouts happen, people change and there are often thousands of miles between them. But they all wanted to be there for their old friend.”

Despite any possible issues, though, they made sure to show support for the 31-year-old. The source added:

“They have been devastated by Liam’s death. They were like brothers for their most formative years and shared so much history together. But coming face to face at such a tragic event must have been very difficult indeed.”

Industry sources also suggested that there was still some tension among the performers at the event — though it’s unclear exactly why. Harry was seen arriving with James Corden, who has been a longtime friend of the band. They were some of the first to arrive, and they entered the church together. The Irish crooner Horan showed up separately with his girlfriend Amelia Woolley and was seen standing by the Watermelon Sugar vocalist at one point.

Meanwhile, Zayn and Louis — who are believed to have remained the closest with Liam — were seen chatting outside the church. It’s unclear if they all reunited inside or kept their distance from one another. After the service, Harry and James left together and Zayn, who rearranged his tour to make it to the service, was seen heading away on his own. Niall left with his partner while holding an order of service program.

It says a lot that they all moved plans and put any possible issues aside to be there for Liam and his family. Just goes to show how special a bond they had at one point — even if they’ve grown apart. They’ll always be brothers.