The former One Direction star, Liam Payne, has died at the age of 31 in Argentina after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, according to police reports.
In a statement, police confirmed they found Payne’s body after an emergency crew responded to a call in the upscale Palermo neighborhood on Wednesday.
Payne gained worldwide fame as a member of the beloved boy band formed on the X Factor TV show in 2010, alongside Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik.
Earlier this month, he attended a concert in Argentina featuring his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.
According to Buenos Aires police, officers initially responded to reports of “an aggressive man who may have been under the influence of drugs and alcohol.”
Upon arriving at the hotel, officials were informed of a loud noise heard in an interior courtyard, where they soon discovered Payne’s body. A police investigation has been initiated.
Emergency medical services director Alberto Crescenti informed local media that Payne had sustained “serious injuries” and that an autopsy will be conducted.
Mr. Crescenti refrained from answering questions regarding the circumstances surrounding Payne’s fall from the balcony.
Payne posted on Snapchat just hours before the incident, saying: “It’s a lovely day here in Argentina” but the video was from earlier in the week where he had spent time with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was in touch with authorities in Argentina “regarding reports of the death of a British man”. No further details were given.
Once news of his death broke, fans began gathering outside the Buenos Aires hotel where the death took place, prompting police to cordon off the entrance. Some lit candles in his memory.
“I was in my living room and my sister told me Liam died,” a young fan named Violeta Antier told Reuters news agency. “We couldn’t believe it. We came here directly to confirm it was true.”
Ms Antier said she saw Payne at the Niall Horan concert just two weeks ago.
Another woman cried as she explained why she had come to the hotel, telling Reuters in Spanish: “This is the only way I have to say goodbye to him”.
One Direction had global success with hits such as What Makes You Beautiful and Story of My Life, while Payne also enjoyed some solo success after the band announced in 2015 that they were going on hiatus the following year.
Tributes have also been pouring in online.
Max George, from boyband The Wanted, said he met Payne while he was competing on The X Factor with One Direction, and described his death as “absolutely devastating”.
“Over the last few years I had the pleasure of getting to know him personally and spent some treasured time with him,” he said on Instagram.
George said Payne had been “wonderful” in terms of support when his bandmate Tom Parker fell ill with a brain tumour.
When Parker died in 2022 at the age of 33, Payne attended the funeral.
Singer Olly Murs, who was on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said he was “lost for words”.
“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad,” he wrote on Instagram.
On Instagram, presenter Dermot O’Leary said he remembered Payne fondly.
“I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on the X factor and blowing us away singing Sinatra,” he wrote alongside a picture of the pair.
“He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful and was always humble.”
“Sending love and condolences to his family [and] loved ones,” socialite Paris Hilton wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “RIP my friend.”
In August of this year, Payne was announced as a judge on a new Netflix talent show alongside former Destiny’s Child member Kelly Rowland and The Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger.
Born in Wolverhampton, UK, Payne first sought stardom by auditioning for the ITV talent show The X Factor in 2008, but judge Simon Cowell advised him to “come back in two years.”
He returned in 2010, impressing the judges and being grouped with four other solo hopefuls during the boot camp stage, leading to the formation of One Direction.
The group achieved remarkable success, releasing four UK number-one albums and four number-one singles, while also topping charts globally. However, after Zayn Malik’s departure in 2015, the band went on hiatus.
In 2017, Payne’s debut solo single, “Strip That Down,” reached number three on the Official UK Chart, and his collaboration with Rita Ora on “For You” from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack also made it into the top ten.
He began a relationship with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy in 2016, and the couple welcomed a son, Bear, the following year before splitting in 2018.
Earlier this week, the BBC obtained a cease-and-desist letter directed at Payne from another former partner, Maya Henry, regarding “alleged egregious conduct.” She had accused him on social media of repeatedly contacting her, to which Payne has not yet responded.