One Direction star Liam Payne is mourning the death of his grandfather.

The singer's sad news surfaced on Twitter.com on Wednesday (02Oct13) and, as thousands of fans expressed their sympathies to Payne, they turned the phrases "StayStrongLiam" and "RIPGrandpaPayne" into 'trending topics' on the micro-blogging website.

Few details about the Best Song Ever hitmaker's family death have emerged, but reports suggest the 20 year old was forced to miss his granddad's funeral on Monday (30Sep13) as he is currently on tour with the band in Australia.

Taking to his Twitter page on Wednesday (02Oct13), he writes, "Thanks for everyone's support at this hard time obviously this has been a tough few weeks for me I've never been through anything like this... And your support means the world so thanks guys".