{"id":79716,"date":"2025-10-17T02:39:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T02:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/79716\/"},"modified":"2025-10-17T02:39:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T02:39:11","slug":"fans-remember-liam-payne-in-wolverhampton-a-year-after-he-died","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/79716\/","title":{"rendered":"Fans remember Liam Payne in Wolverhampton a year after he died"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Rachael Lewisin Wolverhampton and<\/p>\n<p>Andrew DawkinsWest Midlands<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609827_62_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hagXkB hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/e02a8f60-aa95-11f0-86ac-8fbb271dad90.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"BBC Picture tributes are on the right of this photo attached to railings. Other tributes are also attached on the middle and left of this image.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ\"\/>BBC<\/p>\n<p>Tributes were left on railings at West Park in Wolverhampton on Thursday<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Fans have been paying tribute to the singer Liam Payne in his home city of Wolverhampton a year after his death. <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;We love you, Liam&#8221;, &#8220;I hope you are in a better place&#8221; and &#8220;You will always be remembered&#8221; were among the messages left in bouquets, cards and posters around the bandstand in West Park in the city.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The One Direction star died aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires in Argentina.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The death of Payne, who was born in Bushbury in the city, <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cn5zv1yd5vro\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 jZoZnB\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">sparked vigils across the world<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609827_62_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hagXkB hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/5fb186f0-aa9e-11f0-b533-114b7c628ce7.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A woman with blonde hair and wearing a cap and a grey top is standing in front of railings. There is a large poster with images on it behind her.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fan Sarah McRobb says the singer was kind and also &#8220;hilarious&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Sarah McRobb, from Australia, who lives in Manchester, was among the fans who gathered at the bandstand.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">The 30-year-old said she added some of her favourite quotes to her written tribute, which included &#8220;just random things from all different videos and just the funny moments that kind of showed the kind of person he was&#8221;.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;I just really want people to come and see this and just remember,&#8221; she added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;Coming here, it feels like [the] closest place to be connected to Liam in a way, and everybody kind of comes here.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;For his birthday this whole thing was transformed all the way round, and we&#8217;re expecting more tributes to come in.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Ms McRobb said the singer had been kind and was a &#8220;great role model&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">&#8220;I think the world would just be a lot better place if he was still in it.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609827_62_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hagXkB hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/d6eee850-aa8c-11f0-978a-a301e44bcdc7.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Getty Images Liam Payne, who has short dark hair and a beard, is wearing an earpiece and a blue shirt and is looking down. He is standing against a grey background.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ\"\/>Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>Payne died in Argentina, aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">John Carpenter, who was at secondary school with Payne, told how he watched his friend&#8217;s rise to fame, describing it as &#8220;incredible&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">He said after Payne went on the ITV show X Factor and became part of One Direction that, &#8220;We had a good feeling about it that he was going to go all the way.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">Mr Carpenter said he would remember his friend as &#8220;a really loyal friend who would always encourage and always build you up &#8211; and he would want you to be the best person that you could be&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">He said he planned to remember his friend on the anniversary by doing something they had both enjoyed, adding: &#8220;Tonight, I might actually go on a run \u2013 that&#8217;s what myself and Liam used to do a lot.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609827_62_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hagXkB hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/4ad77ef0-aab3-11f0-8051-295629adf78e.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"A close-up of John Carpenter shows him wearing a shirt and tie with a navy suit, and wall tiles behind him.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ\"\/><\/p>\n<p>John Carpenter was at secondary school with the star<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 bJoRPJ\">A court in Argentina dropped charges in February of criminal negligence against three out of five people who had been charged in connection with the singer&#8217;s death.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609827_62_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hagXkB hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/c2339010-aa9a-11f0-b13f-1d91fccb7d93.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"There a five people - a man and four women - are standing in a row in front of a bandstand. There are trees and greenery in the background.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fans gathered by the bandstand in West Park on the anniversary of Liam Payne&#8217;s death on Thursday<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1760609827_62_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hagXkB hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/61ce6290-aa95-11f0-86ac-8fbb271dad90.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"Three picture tributes, each comprising a number of photos, are attached to railings at a bandstand. Some flowers are near them.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 bGQwLJ\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Fans remember the One Direction star<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rachael Lewisin Wolverhampton and Andrew DawkinsWest Midlands BBC Tributes were left on railings at West Park in Wolverhampton&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":79717,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[146,85,46,409],"class_list":["post-79716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-entertainment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}