Gone but never forgotten.
This year’s In Memoriam at the 2025 Grammy Awards on Sunday kicked off with a video tribute to late One Direction singer Liam Payne, who died Oct. 16 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires. He was 31.
The video included voiceover of Payne alongside clips of him on stage and waving to throngs of excited fans. “I never expected any of this to happen… I actually still think about it. We’ve done some amazing things,” Payne can be heard saying.
Born in 1991, Payne formed One Direction with Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson after they all individually auditioned for the British reality competition series The X Factor in 2010. The group recorded five albums in six years before going on indefinite hiatus in 2016. Payne had songwriting credits on many of the group’s hits, including “Story of My Life,” “Steal My Girl,” and “Ready to Run.”
Liam Payne. Joseph Okpako/WireImage
Coldplay’s Chris Martin then lent his voice to pay tribute to the other stars we’ve lost over the past year with a performance of “All My Love” on the piano.
As is tradition, as Martin sang, photos of late stars including Kris Kristofferson, Ángela Álvarez, Steve Albini, Cissy Houston, John Mayall, Dickey Betts, Angela Bofill, Joe Bonsall, Fatman Scoop, Sandra Crouch, Richard Sherman, Joe Chambers, Jack Jones, Duane Eddy, Henry “Hank” Cicalo, Abdul Kareem “Duke” Fakir, and Will Jennings flashed behind him.
Other stars who were paid tribute to included: Kinky Friedman, Egidio Cuadrado, David Sanborn, Steve Lawrence, DJ Clark Kent, Mary Martin, Sam Moore, Tito Jackson, Marianne Faithfull, Ben Vaughn, Sérgio Mendes, Frankie Beverly, Eric Carmen, Rich Homie Quan, Phil Lesh, Bob Newhart, Seiji Ozawa, Ella Jenkins, Wayne Osmond, Alfa Anderson, Richard Perry, Lani Simmons, JD Souther, Roy Haynes, John Titta, Rico Wade, Garth Hudson, and Toby Keith,
After the In Memoriam aired, Payne’s “Story of My Life” played inside the Crypto.com arena where the Grammys were held Sunday night in Los Angeles. Audience members were audibly emotional about the song choice.
The evening also included a star-studded salute to the life and legacy of Quincy Jones, who died on Nov. 3 at 91. Cynthia Erivo, Herbie Hancock, Jacob Collier, Janelle Monáe, Lainey Wilson, Will Smith, and Stevie Wonder all took the stage to honor the music icon on Sunday.
Herbie Hancock and Cynthia Erivo during a tribute to Quincy Jones at the 67th Grammys. Kevin Winter/Getty
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In addition to all of these tributes, as announced last week, this year’s telecast carried a renewed sense of purpose: raising additional funds to support Los Angeles wildfire relief efforts and honoring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect others. Sheryl Crow, Dawes, John Legend, Brad Paisley, Brittany Howard, and St. Vincent opened the show with an emotional tribute to the City of Angels. (Prior to the ceremony, since launching the Los Angeles Fire Relief Effort to Support Music Professionals last week, the Recording Academy and MusiCares have raised and pledged more than $4 million in emergency aid to music people affected by the wildfires.)
