Nicole Scherzinger Texted With Liam Payne on the Day of His Death, Andrew Lloyd Webber Reveals

Liam Payne was texting with his longtime friend and mentor Nicole Scherzinger on the day of his death, Andrew Lloyd Webber shared.

The composer, 76, made the revelation while speaking about the Pussycat Dolls singer, 46, in an interview with Billboard published on Thursday, October 24.

“I suppose something that hasn’t been said, and I suppose I could say, is that of course, she mentored Liam from One Direction,” he said of Nicole, who stars in the Broadway production of Sunset Blvd., for which Andrew wrote the music. “On the Wednesday when he died, she was still texting him that day.”

Liam died at 31 years old on October 16 when he fell off a third-floor balcony at CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he had checked in three days prior, In Touch confirmed. A 911 call was received at 5:04 p.m., but the One Direction alum was found dead in the hotel’s interior courtyard when police arrived.

Andrew revealed that Nicole continued on with her performance as Norma Desmond in Sunset Blvd. on the night she learned that Liam had passed.

“The fact that she even did the show at all is extraordinary. I mean, she is an amazing, amazing woman,” the composer continued. “She is without any question one of the finest performers I’ve ever worked with.”

Nicole met Liam while working as a judge on The X Factor U.K. in 2010. In fact, it was her idea to put the then-14-year-old in a boy band with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan, and One Direction was born.

“They’re just too talented to get rid of,” she told Simon Cowell on the show. “And they’ve got just the right look and the right charisma on stage. I think they’ll be really great in a boy band together.”

Nicole paid tribute to the former boy band member in an Instagram post on Friday, October 25. “Dear Liam, I will forever cherish and treasure the time we shared together, from fifteen years ago when One Direction was born, right up until just a few weeks ago,” she wrote.

The “Your Love” singer continued, “It was such a blessing to get to work with you recently. We shared the same love and passion for music and I will forever remember the meaningful and joyful conversations we had. It’s been so hard to process that you’re no longer here, but I am grateful to have known your kind heart, sweet soul and character. You brought so much joy, light, and laughter to the lives of those that truly knew you. I will ‘miss you’ my friend and carry you in my heart. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.”

Local authorities confirmed on October 17 that Liam “jumped from the balcony of his room” before his death.

“According to the emergency medical team sent to the scene, [Liam] had a fracture in the base of his skull [and] extremely serious injuries,” Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti confirmed. The fracture led to Liam’s immediate death.

Additionally, a preliminary autopsy was completed that day, with forensic pathologists Santiago Maffia Bizzozero and Victor Roberto Cohen concluding that the “Strip That Down” singer had “internal and external hemorrhaging” from his multiple injuries.

A partial autopsy and toxicology report later revealed that Liam had multiple drugs in his system at the time of his death, sources told ABC News on Monday, October 21. This included “pink cocaine” — a recreational drug typically mixing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — as well as cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack, sources said.