By james art 
The BBC“Thank you for being a part of One Direction. Your songs helped me and my sister after we lost our mother to cancer. I will cherish these albums forever.”
These are the words of Jamie Parker, one of hundreds of people who took to Birmingham’s Chamberlain Square on Sunday to pay their respects to Liam Payne.
The 31-year-old singer died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina.
His death sparked vigils around the world, from Payne’s hometown of Wolverhampton, as far as Sydney and Manila.
Hundreds of fans gathered at the memorial in Birmingham, many in tears.
They placed flowers, letters and other tributes on the steps of the square, and some handed out cakes and others hugged.
Mr Parker left a handwritten tribute to Payne.
“I don’t even know him, but that’s what his music meant to me and my sister,” the 27-year-old said.
“In 2013 my mother passed away from cancer and my sister and I went through such a terrible period of grief.
“We relied on One Direction albums to help us through our grief and navigate our feelings.”
Mr Parker said he was in “complete disbelief” after hearing of the singer’s death.
He said Payne and One Direction’s influence on his generation and younger people was “huge”.
He added: “I mean, look around you, at all of us.
“We’re here because of a local guy from Wolverhampton who just thought ‘I want to pursue my singing dream’ and became an international star with four other guys.”
Elizabeth Turay went to the vigil with her sisters and said they listened to One Direction music together.
We all shared the same experiences as sisters, it was just a big part of our childhoods,” the 19-year-old said.
Her older sister Jennifer, 23, added: ‘He played such a big part of our childhood, even recently, keeping up with all his music.
Amina, 24, said Payne felt close because he was from the same town as her and her two sisters.
She said: “It got to the point where you really felt like you knew them, they were like your friend.
“We didn’t know him personally but we know where he went to school – my mum went to his school.”
Friends Sophie Peach and Quinn Poston, 18, said their bedroom walls were plastered with One Direction posters when they were younger.
Mrs Poston said: “I remember just jumping on my bed with my sister listening to The Best Song Ever and learning all the dances.
“I just loved listening to him and I’m grateful to have been around at the same time he was.”
Ms Peach, who also bonded with her sister through the band’s music, said: “He was literally my whole childhood. He got me through a lot as a kid.”
She added that Payne “made a lot of people happy.”
“It’s gone from a little boy in Wolverhampton to the biggest boy band in the world,” Ms Poston added.