Rita Ora pays emotional tribute to ‘very, very dear’ Liam Payne

Rita Ora chose the most honest and simple way to make a tribute to Liam Payne.

While hosting the 2024 MTV Europe Music Awards on Sunday, Nov. 10, the 33-year-old singer made an emotional speech in honour of Payne, who died at the age of 31 on Oct. 16 after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“I just want to take a moment to remember someone that was very, very dear to us," said Ora, who has hosted the award show twice in the past. “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.”

Ora, who collaborated with Payne in 2018 on their track For You, called the One Direction star “one of the kindest people” she knew, and said that she and MTV producers had been considering “so many ways that we were talking about honouring him.”

“I think sometimes just simply speaking is enough,” she continued.

“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 to every room he walked into, and he left such a mark on this world.”

“So, let’s just take a moment to remember our friend Liam,” Ora added.

The show then displayed a memorial clip of Payne that read, “MTV remembers Liam Payne 1993–2024,” while playing black-and-white photos and videos of the late musician and a clip of the One Direction hit Night Changes.