In some genuinely unexpected news, Justin Bieber took a break from perfecting his hockey flow and trying not to spill any iced coffee on his oversized hoodies to honor Liam Payne after his tragic passing.
On Monday (October 21), the “Love Yourself” singer – who’s basically Canada’s emotional support pop star – popped onto his Instagram Story to share a tribute to Liam, who passed away last week at 31. And let me tell you, it wasn’t just a casual ‘thoughts and prayers’ situation. Nope! Justin hit us with all the emotions:
“Rest easy, Liam,” he wrote over the video, tossing in both a white heart emoji and a broken heart emoji – the digital equivalent of a comforting hug and a tear rolling down your cheek.
The video Justin reposted showcased a fan-made memorial for Liam that could rival any Pinterest wedding board. It was covered in heartfelt notes, flowers, and old-school Polaroid photos, the kind you’d expect to see in a nostalgic teen rom-com montage. Basically, it screamed, “You will never be forgotten.”
And then, the voiceover swooped in like the final scene of a Hallmark movie to make sure no one left with a dry eye:
“Just remember: you are allowed to grieve as a fan. You are allowed to love someone you’ve never met. You are allowed to admire someone for their art. You are allowed to cry, to break, to feel like a part of you is gone.”
Yes, you heard that right. The voiceover just gave us permission to ugly-cry, unapologetically, over our favorite boy bander. Not that anyone needed permission—Liam was a key ingredient in many of our formative playlists, after all.
Liam’s passing on October 16 was heartbreaking in every sense. He reportedly fell from a hotel balcony in Argentina, a tragedy that could only be described as the kind of plot twist no one ever wanted. A preliminary autopsy confirmed the unimaginable: he succumbed to multiple injuries, with internal and external hemorrhages. A recently released toxicology report also shed light on the substances in his system at the time.
This news hit fans like a wrecking ball to the soul, but the outpouring of love for Liam proves that even after life takes the cruelest turns, the music—and the memories—live on. So, take Justin’s advice: Hug your inner fan, cry if you need to, and throw a playlist together in Liam’s honor. Somewhere out there, he’s smiling—probably from the VIP section in heaven.
