The criticized Simon Cowell receives an embrace from Liam Payne's parents at his funeral

Music mogul Simon Cowell was comforted by Liam Payne's parents during a funeral service for the recently deceased singer.

Payne died at the age of 31 on October 16 after falling from a balcony at CasaSur Palermo Hotel, Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The funeral service was held at a church in England on Wednesday, with dozens of celebrities in attendance. Those celebrities included Payne's former bandmates Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Thomlinson and Niall Horan.

Cowell, who put One Direction together, was also present, and he was pictured being comforted by Payne's parents, Geoff and Karen, while wiping his eyes in a heartbroken state outside the church.

Payne's former partner Cheryl Tweedy was also present, as were a host of DJs and other musicians. Cowell was present with his partner Lauren Silverman.

Details behind Payne's death

The former One Direction singer was in Argentina to watch former bandmate Niall Horan during his tour. He had posted shortly before: "It's been a while since me and Niall have spoken, we've got a lot to talk about. No bad vibes or anything like that, but we need to talk."

He later posted videos of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy singing and dancing at the concert. He later visited a friend in Argentina, and Cassidy had left the country prior to him falling to his death.

During his stay at the hotel, a call was made to emergency services because of a guest "who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol" and "destroying his room".

"I don't know if the guest's life is in danger. But he has a room with a balcony and we're a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening," said the hotel's front desk manager in a later call.

The call was related to Payne, and local media later posted images of a TV with a broken screen, multiple bottles, cans, candles, aluminum foil and a half-full glass of champagne.

Payne fell to his death from a 14 meter high balcony, and was pronounced dead at the scene with "no possibility of resuscitation". Tests ruled out any third party intervention, but they also stated that Payne was not aware of what he was doing, saying that he was unconscious or semi-conscious when he fell.