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Rita Ora barely managed to contain her tears as she paid a moving tribute to Liam Payne during Sunday’s MTV Europe Music Awards at the Co-op Live Arena in Manchester, England.
“I just want to take a moment to remember someone that was very, very dear to us,” the singer, who was hosting the MTV EMAs for the third time, said. “We lost him recently, and he was a big part of the MTV world and my world, and I think a lot of yours at home, and everybody in here tonight. Liam Payne was one of the kindest people that I knew. “
The audience cheered upon hearing Payne’s name. Ora continued her tribute despite becoming visibly upset:
“You know there were so many ways that we were talking about honoring him and I think sometimes simply speaking is enough. He had the biggest heart and was always the first person to offer help in any way that he could. He brought so much joy in every room he walked into.”
Ora paused to compose herself and said that Liam “left such a mark on this world.” She then encouraged the audience “to take a moment to remember our friend, Liam.” The popular One Direction song Night Changes then played along to a backdrop of photos of the singer, leaving the audience emotional.
Ora then walked off the stage and was seen wiping her tears away. Ahead of the awards night, Bruce Gillmer, the event’s executive producer and president of music and chief content officer for music at MTV parent company Paramount Plus, had promised that the event would be an “amazing global music celebration” that would also pay tribute to the 31-year-old.
He told Billboard “Obviously, Liam was an artist that was incredibly close with our core audience and even with some of our staff and our host, Rita Ora. We have to be somewhat sensitive to the timing of it. It’s all very new. So, we’re not looking to do anything out-of-bounds. But, for sure, there’ll be an acknowledgment of his passing. It’s appropriate given the connection to the audience and what he means to the brand.”
Ora previously collaborated with Payne on the 2018 track “For You,” the soundtrack of Fifty Shades Freed. This is the second time she paid tribute to her friend on stage. Hours after she learned of his passing, she tried to sing their song during her concert in Osaka, Japan but was so engulfed with emotion that she had to stop.
“I can’t even sing this right now,” she said in videos shared online which showed her burying her face in her hands. As a photo of her and Payne appeared in the background, she encouraged the audience to sing for her instead. She could be seen mumbling an “I’m sorry” before she seemingly walked off the stage.
Ora later took to Instagram to share photos of them and lament his sudden passing. She shared her devastation and said he had the “kindest soul” which she will “never forget.”
Ora is just among the many celebrities in the movie and music industry who paid tribute to Payne following his untimely death on Oct. 16. He suffered fatal injuries after he fell from a third-floor balcony of CasaSur Palermo hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Local authorities have now released his remains to his family in the U.K. where he will be laid to rest.