One Direction star Liam Payne dies after balcony fall – police
Liam Payne, former member of One Direction, has died at the age of 31 in Argentina after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, according to police.
In a statement, authorities said Payne’s body was discovered after emergency crews responded to a call in the upscale Palermo neighborhood.
Payne rose to international fame as part of the popular boyband formed on the X Factor TV show in 2010, alongside Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik.
Earlier this month, Payne attended a concert in Argentina by his former bandmate, Niall Horan.
Police in Buenos Aires said 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 in an interior courtyard. Shortly after, they found Payne’s body. An investigation has been launched.
Alberto Crescenti, director of emergency medical services, told local media that Payne had sustained “serious injuries” and that an autopsy would be conducted.
Crescenti declined to comment on the details surrounding Payne’s fall.
The UK Foreign Office confirmed it is in contact with Argentine authorities “regarding reports of the death of a British man” but provided no further information.
Just hours before the incident, Payne appeared to post on Snapchat, saying: “It’s a lovely day here in Argentina.”
After news of his death spread, fans gathered outside the Buenos Aires hotel, where the entrance was cordoned off by police. 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”.
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.”
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton in the UK, first tried for stardom when he auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor in 2008 – but judge Simon Cowell told him to “come back in two years”.
He did, impressing the judges more in 2010, and was put together with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage and One Direction were born.
The group had four UK number one albums and four number one singles as well as topping charts around the world, before announcing they were going on a hiatus in 2015.
In 2017, Payne’s debut solo single Strip That Down, which peaked at number three on the Official UK Chart, and his collaboration with Rita Ora on the song For You – from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack – also reached the top 10.
He began a relationship with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy in 2016 and they had a son, Bear, the following year. The couple split in 2018.
Earlier this week Maya Henry, another former partner, said to media through her lawyers that she had issued a cease and desist letter against the singer.
She had posted on social media accusing him of repeatedly contacting her. Payne did not respond to the accusations.
