Liam Payne’s love song for ex Naomi Campbell recorded weeks before his tragic death

Liam Payne wrote and recorded his final song as a heartfelt tribute to his former love, supermodel Naomi Campbell, The Mail on Sunday reports.  

The ex-One Direction member dated Campbell for a few months in 2019 and began working on the track, titled ‘Closer to You,’ soon after their breakup.  

However, Payne shelved the project for years until earlier this year, when he finally decided to complete and record it.  

Tragically, he passed away believing the song would become his next big hit.  

According to The Mail on Sunday, Payne, who died in October at the age of 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, was deeply proud of the track. Sources also confirmed that Campbell is aware it was written in her honor.  

A source revealed, “Liam and Naomi dated for three or four months and, like all things with Liam, he took it very seriously. He was an emotional guy. They didn’t have a big bust-up, it was more that they realized their relationship couldn’t last long-term because they were both juggling careers and traveling a lot.”  

The breakup was amicable, and the two remained on good terms.  

The song’s lyrics express Payne’s longing “to get closer to you” and disclose that Campbell was the one “who walked away.”  

Throughout the track, he passionately pleads, “I want to love you.”  

He was particularly pleased with the opening line: “Still smell your perfume in my room….”  

The source added, “Liam joked Naomi’s scent was so distinctive he could always smell it, even long after she’d left.”  

The Mail on Sunday heard a rough version of the three-and-a-half-minute song, recorded in Los Angeles in July.  

The track was submitted as evidence in a Buenos Aires court as part of a 91-page document containing over 400 files, compiled by lawyers representing Payne’s close friend, Argentine-American businessman Roger Nores, as part of the ongoing investigation into his death.  

Nores and his girlfriend both contributed to the song’s lyrics and melody.  

In August, Payne traveled to Sweden to finalize the track with Rami Yacoub, the producer behind One Direction’s smash hit ‘What Makes You Beautiful.’