Zayn Malik has postponed the American leg of his first ever solo tour following the untimely death of his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.

Payne died suddenly aged 31 on Wednesday after falling from the third floor of his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, sparking an outpouring of grief and shock around the world.

Zayn, who was due to kick off the tour in San Francisco on October 23, told his fans this evening: ‘Given the heartbreaking loss 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.’

Zayn, who shot to global stardom with bandmates Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles as young teenagers, was due to perform in San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Washington, DC, and New York.

Zayn is also supposed to be going on a UK tour, performing in Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, London, Wolverhampton and Newcastle next month.

A spokesperson for the singer told the PA news agency that his UK dates, starting on November 20, are ‘unchanged’.

In recent days, hundreds of fans had commented on Zayn’s social media posts to say that they would fully support him postponing the tour as he battles with the sudden grief.

Zayn, 31, recently performed at the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire in London, but this was set to mark the first time he was going on a large tour since leaving One Direction. 

Following the sudden death of Payne, Zayn admitted he had been ‘talking out loud’ to his former bandmate – as he opened up about their tricky relationship in a tribute.

In an honest message, he acknowledged their ups and downs, saying the pair had ‘butted heads’, but thanked Payne for ‘helping him through his darkest times’ and poignantly said he’d hoped for a chance to rebuild their bond in the future. 

Zayn, who quit One Direction in 2015 citing ‘stress’ and stating he wanted to be a ‘normal 22-year-old’, had an up and down relationship with Liam – who called his bandmate a ‘d***’ when he appeared on Logan Paul‘s podcast in 2022. 

In the same interview, he also spoke about a physical altercation where a bandmate threw him against a wall, and recently Liam’s ex-fiancée Maya Henry alleged that it was Zayn. 

Taking to Instagram on Thursday evening, Zayn wrote: ‘Liam I have found myself talking out loud to you, hoping you can hear me, I can’t help but think selfishly that there was so many more conversations for us to have in our lives.

 ‘I never got to thank you for supporting me through some of the most difficult times in my life.

‘When I was missing home as a 17-year-old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and that I was loved.

‘Even though you were younger than me you were always more sensible than me., you were headstrong, opinionated and gave no f**ks about telling people they were wrong.

‘Even though we butted heads because of this a few times, I always secretly respected you for it.’

Zayn famously left the band in 2015, and in 2016, he said he was ‘the closest with Liam’ when he was asked what his relationship with his former bandmates was like.

‘I’m still probably the closest to Liam. We talk on the phone. He congratulated me on my single. Which was nice. I congratulated him on his Brit Award,’ he said at the time.

Payne plummeted 45ft from the third floor into the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Argentina’s capital on Wednesday at 5pm local time (9pm UK time), before medics confirmed his death. 

The singer died of multiple traumas and ‘internal and external haemorrhage’, a post-mortem examination report said.

Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it was investigating the incident as an ‘inconclusive death’ following the report.