Two months after the tragic passing of Liam Payne at the age of 31, his former One Direction bandmates—Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson—are reassessing their relationships. "[Liam's death] served as a wake-up call for all of them. Previously, they had sporadic contact but no close friendships," a source revealed to Us Weekly on Wednesday. The insider added that the band members have since committed to healing their friendships.

"They are all still grieving but are reaching out to each other and feel closer than they have in years," the source continued. "It has brought them back together." Styles, 30, Tomlinson, 32, and Malik and Horan, both 31, attended Payne's private funeral in Amersham, England, last month. This somber gathering marked the first time the pop stars had all been together since Malik left One Direction in 2015. The band subsequently went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Following the news of Payne's death, the band issued a joint statement on their official Instagram account: "We are utterly devastated by the news of Liam's passing. In time, and when everyone is ready, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, whom we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be cherished forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you, Liam."

Years before his death, Payne candidly discussed his time in One Direction on Jessie Ware's podcast "Table Manners" in 2019. He described the boy band, formed during "The X Factor," as enduring a chaotic schedule filled with sold-out tours before recording an album. "There's no stop button," he told Ware. "You have no control over your life. That's why I lost complete control of everything."

The five musicians rose to fame in 2010, and Payne found the split after six years to be "really scary at first." "I needed to stop. It would've killed me," the "Strip That Down" artist admitted. Payne pursued a solo career, releasing one album, "LP1," in 2019, and had begun working on a follow-up. After leaving One Direction, Payne struggled to break the habits of partying and overworking that he developed while in the group.

The late superstar concluded, "You're either going to end up a troubled child star who dies at a young age, or you're going to live life and move on." "I remember going to therapy, and the therapist asked, 'What do you like to do?' I didn't know," Payne recalled. This wasn't the first time the UK native opened up about his struggles during his boy band years. In 2019, he told Men's Health Australia that "it's challenging when you have the level of fame we had in the band."

"There have been many people in trouble with mental health who aren't getting the help they need, and I think that's a problem in our industry," Payne continued. "It's the same issues that have been happening since the '70s. You know the traps, and if you're fortunate enough, like me, to escape that scenario and return to a sense of normalcy, then you know it's different." He described going on stage and being in public as "putting on the Disney costume," confessing, "I was [drunk] quite often because there was no other way to cope with what was happening."

"I mean, it was fun," Payne explained. "We had a blast, but there were certain parts where it became a bit toxic." There had also been tension among the band members over the years, with Payne's ex-fiancée, Maya Henry, alleging that Malik was the One Direction member who allegedly "threw" her ex "up a wall" during a backstage fight at a concert. Although Payne did not disclose the cause of their alleged altercation, he noted on the "Impaulsive" podcast in 2022: "There are many reasons why I dislike Zayn, and there are many reasons why I'll always stand by him."

Payne tragically fell to his death from the third floor of his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16. Medical officials confirmed that the star had a "cranial fracture and extremely severe injuries that led to his immediate death." Witnesses told TMZ that Payne was acting "erratic" before his sudden passing. He allegedly smashed his laptop in the hotel lobby and was carried back to his room before the fall. Payne, who was dating influencer Kate Cassidy at the time of his death, shared son Bear, 7, with ex Cheryl Cole. The pair met when she was a judge on his season of "The X Factor."

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