Liam Payne Hospitalized: One Direction Gig Cancelled

One Direction fans in Belfast Northern Ireland have been left devastated this evening after Liam Payne was taken ill and the boy-band cancelled their scheduled performance just minutes before they were due onstage. Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan were due to play the first of three sold out nights at Belfast’s SSE arena before news of Payne’s illness broke. One Direction’s support act, Jamie Lawson, had already played his set and fans were eagerly awaiting the arrival of Payne and his pals when news broke that Liam was ill and the show cancelled.

According to the Daily Mirror fans had traveled from as far afield as Greece and Holland to see Liam and his mates in one of their last performances before the boys go their separate ways early next year. Fans had been queuing outside the venue since early this morning in the hope of bagging good spots to see Payne and the rest of One Direction and many fans are reported to be inconsolable after the gig was cancelled three minutes after the boys were due on stage.

According to the Daily Mail an announcement was made via the arena’s safety announcement screen saying that Liam Payne had been taken ill and was unable to perform. None of Liam’s band-mates addressed the crowd and many of Payne’s fans were left worrying about the singers health. Within minutes, Twitter was awash with good will messages for Payne and the hashtag #GetWellSoonLiam was soon trending worldwide.

A statement from one Direction’s tour management did not expand on the cause of Payne’s illness and simply advised fans to keep hold of their tickets and await a further announcement tomorrow.

“The show tonight has been cancelled as Liam has taken ill, and whilst not serious, he is unable to perform tonight.”

“Please hold to your tickets. A further statement will be made in the morning. The band apologise to the fans and wish Liam better.”

According to the BBC a further statement was made shortly afterwards by One Direction’s management, but again no firm information was released as to the condition of Payne’s health.

“Unfortunately One Direction have had to cancel tonight’s concert in Belfast.”

“Liam has been taken suddenly ill, and the concert will sadly not be taking place. Fans have been asked to hold on to their tickets and there will be a further statement tomorrow. The band apologise to their fans and wish Liam well as soon as possible.”

Just a few days ago Payne was criticized in some quarters after cancelling an appearance at Attitude Magazine’s award ceremony where Liam was crowned as the sexiest male by the iconic gay magazine. On that occasion Payne took to Twitter to apologise for his non-attendance and it was later claimed that he was ill.

Gutted I can't make the @AttitudeMag awards tonight as I'm sure it's going to be an amazing evening

— Liam (@LiamPayne) October 14, 2015

Given the lack of official information fans are left to speculate on the reasons for Payne’s illness. One well known fan site claimed that Payne had been taken to hospital as a result of a problem with his kidney’s. They do however state that this has not been confirmed.

As you would expect Twitter has been flooded with messages of support for Liam. One fan summed up the feelings of many simply saying “Liam has been hospitalized because he is ill. Get well soon Liam.”