Liam Payne’s recordings have spiked on the iTunes chart following the singer’s death, with his final single Teardrops now set to reach its highest position.
The 31-year-old died on Wednesday after falling from a third floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
His former One Direction bandmates are now among those paying tribute.
The boyband were together from their X Factor origins in 2010 until the five disbanded in 2016 to pursue solo careers.
Payne released his only album LP1 in 2019 and it reached only number 17 in the UK. But he said he had been working on new material, with a second album set to be released this year.
The first single from the planned second album was called Teardrops and was released in March - and this has reentered the iTunes chart, reports the Mail.
Payne said upon its release: “This album literally is that whole last year for me. How I was feeling on those days is each record. It was a snapshot of that day. There were definitely a lot of teardrops shed in making these records and for the first time you really get a picture of what it was like for me each day of making this record.
“So you can even help someone through a tough time, help somebody celebrate something.
“That's really what I want to get across in this record and that's the best part I guess about my job.”
Teardrops missed the UK top 30 and led to Payne splitting with his manager.
It was reported last week that the second album was “completely on pause” while Payne worked through issues in his life.
Teardrops, which was co-written by former ‘NSync member JC Chasez and collaborator Jamie Scott, may now chart more highly than it did originally.
The song’s lyrics include: “Teardrops are falling down your face again, ’cause I don’t know how to love you when I am broken too.”
“Maybe your words make sense, I could be the problem, I’m so sorry, I know we could just be friends. But I don’t know when we come down from this softly.”
There has not been a date listed for a potential release of Payne’s second album.
