Zayn Malik leaves fans in tears as he pays emotional tribute to Liam Payne at comeback show

Zayn Malik paid an emotional tribute to former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne as he returned to the stage. Zayn kicked off his new tour in Leeds on Saturday night and there was a special message for Liam at the end.

The tour was postponed in the wake of the star's death in October which left his former bandmates devastated. Fans were waiting to see whether Zayn would pay tribute to Liam.

And there was an emotional message on a large blue screen which read: "Liam Payne 1993-2024. Love you bro." The message, followed by a heart emoji, was shared widely on social media after leaving some in the crowd in tears.

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Zayn's return to the stage came only days after he and the other former members of One Direction attended Liam's funeral. Liam and Zayn shot to worldwide fame together in 2010 when they formed One Direction on the X Factor along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.

Paying tribute to the dad-of-one following his tragic death, Zayn shared how he "never got to thank" the late star for supporting him through some of the "most difficult" in his life. He wrote on Instagram: "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 yr 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***s about telling people when they were wrong.

"Even though we butted heads because of this a few times, I always secretly respected you for it. I was always happy to know, no matter what happened on stage we could always rely on you to know which way to steer the ship next. I lost a brother when you left us and can't explain to you what l'd give to just give you a hug one last time and say goodbye."