Zayn Malik postpones US tour over “heartbreaking loss” of Liam Payne

Zayn Malik has postponed his US tour following the death of former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne this week.

Payne passed away earlier this week at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Per The Guardian, the Argentinian prosecutor’s office revealed that Payne’s cause of death was due to multiple traumas and internal and external bleeding.

Malik was meant to head out to the States later this month in support of his fourth solo album ‘Room Under The Stairs’, which arrived in May. However, following the events of this week, he has now confirmed that the dates will be rescheduled.

“Given the heartbreaking loss I’ve experienced this week, I’ve made the decision to postpone the US leg of the STAIRWAY TO THE SKY tour. The dates are being rescheduled for January and I’ll post them as soon as it’s all set in the next few days. Your tickets will remain valid for the new dates. Love you all and thank you for your understanding.”

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Malik is also set to perform across the UK next month, playing six shows at Edinburgh’s O2 Academy, Leeds’ O2 Academy, Manchester’s O2 Apollo and London’s Eventim Apollo on November 20, 23, 24 and 26 respectively.

The dates wrap up with a penultimate stop in Wolverhampton on November 29, followed by a closing show in Newcastle Upon Tyne on December 3.

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At the present moment, these dates remain unaffected.

The run of shows was supposed to be Malik’s first solo tour. He played his first-ever solo live show in London earlier this year.

Before then, he had yet to perform live since launching his solo career back in 2016. Originally he was meant to hit the road that same year, but ultimately cancelled what was to be his debut appearance due to “the worst anxiety of my career”.

“I have been working over the last three months to overcome my extreme anxiety around major live solo performances,” Zayn wrote in a statement at the time.

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Paying tribute to Payne earlier this week, Malik shared a joint statement alongside surviving One Direction members Niall HoranLouis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, where they expressed their devastation, and that they would need time “to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.”

A portion of Malik individual’s tribute reads:  “Liam, I have found myself talking out loud to you, hoping you can hear me, I can’t help but think selfishly that there are so many more conversations for us to have in our lives.”

In other news, Payne was found to have donated thousands of pounds to various GoFundMe pages in the month before his death.