A new single featuring Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer who died earlier this month after falling from his Buenos Aires hotel room, will be released on Friday, a collaborator said. Announcing the upcoming release, US singer and songwriter Sam Pounds said that he hoped the track, “Do No Wrong”, would be “a blessing to the world”, including Payne’s grieving family. “I pray that this song eclipses the negative echoes,” he posted on social media, alongside black and white artwork for the single featuring a winged angel rising upwards towards a broken heart. “I pray supernatural positive healing power will embrace each and every one of you,” Pounds added.

Payne was found dead on October 16 after falling from the balcony of his third-floor room at the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentinian capital. His death, aged 31, prompted a global outpouring of grief and condolences from family, former bandmates, fans and others. Hotel staff had called emergency services twice to report a guest “overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” who was “destroying” a hotel room. Payne had spoken publicly about struggles with substance abuse and coping with fame from an early age.

The musician had collaborated on “Do No Wrong” with North Carolina singer Pounds prior to his death, with three versions set for release, including a live mix and an a cappella single. Payne’s last solo work, a single called “Teardrops”, was released in March, with a second album teased at the time. The day after his death, Pounds posted a montage of tributes to him on Instagram, including a video of Payne in the recording studio for the track. “I can’t believe I’m writing this post. I can’t believe you are gone in this way,” he wrote. — AFP