Harry Styles ended his record-breaking 12-night residency at Wembley Stadium last night with an emotional tribute to his late One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, as Liam’s family watched from the crowd.
“I wouldn’t be on this stage if it wasn’t for four friends of mine that were a massive part of this journey,” Styles told around 80,000 fans at the final sold-out concert. “I wanna thank Niall, Louis, Zayn and my dear friend Liam for these nights and everything that I learned in this time, the friendship, everything… None of this would be possible, I wouldn’t be here without you, thank you so much.”
“Harry Styles broke down as he thanked Liam Payne and his family at his final Wembley show.”
Payne died on 16 October 2024 at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He and Styles formed One Direction on The X Factor in 2010 alongside Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. The band went on to become one of the biggest boybands in history before their indefinite hiatus in 2016.
Later in the show, Styles’s older sister Gemma made a surprise appearance on stage, admitting it was “not somewhere I’ve ever wanted to be” as the family normally avoids the spotlight. “That said, this is not a normal evening,” she said. “My little brother is about to finish a record-breaking 12-night run.”
Gemma told Styles: “I don’t think of you as this at all in day-to-day life. I think of you as a brother and an uncle and a best friend. And seeing the incredible community that has formed around you is just indescribable, really.” She thanked everyone who had “been there with you over the last 12 nights and the last 16 years”, and recalled dropping him at his first audition for The X Factor.
Payne’s parents, his sister Ruth and her son were among the audience, prompting an outpouring of emotion from fans online. One wrote: “The way I started sobbing.” Another said: “How nice to see Liam’s mum.” A third posted: “LIAM’S FAMILY AT HARRY’S SHOW TONIGHT, DON’T TALK TO ME IM EMOTIONAL.”
Styles also played a video of One Direction from their early days on the big screen as fans reacted. He became the first artist in history to perform 12 shows at Wembley Stadium on a single tour, part of his Together, Together tour supporting his latest album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.