The 31-year-old British musician was a vocalist for the U.K. pop band, along with Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. The band is on hiatus.
Liam Payne, a member of British pop band One Direction, died Wednesday at the age of 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, local authorities said.
Sistema de Atencion Medica de Emergencia said in a statement to Telemundo that Payne fell from the balcony in Palermo.
Police “were directed to the hotel by a 911 call reporting an aggressive man,” the emergency services agency, known as SAME, said. The agency did not say whether drugs or alcohol was involved, just that the 911 call reported that could be the case
The agency confirmed Payne’s death, it said.
Payne, born in Wolverhampton, England, was one of five original members of One Direction, famous for such hits as “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life.”
The group, which also includes Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson, has been on an indefinite hiatus since 2016. Zayn Malik was a founding member, but left before the group’s hiatus.
One Direction formed in 2010 after appearing on the TV show “The X Factor.”
One Direction, also known as 1D, shot to fame and in 2014 it launched a huge “Where We Are Tour,” which included concerts in 20 countries and lasted more than five months. It was the top-grossing tour that year with $282.2 million and 3.4 million fans, concert industry publication Pollstar said in its year-end review.
The band sold more than 50 million records overall, and in 2014, it became the first group to have its first four albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, according to Billboard.
After One Direction went on hiatus, Payne, like other members including Styles, embarked on a solo career. Payne signed with Republic Records in 2016.
He went into rehab after a 2022 appearance on the Logan Paul podcast in which he was critical of One Direction and former member Malik.
Payne said in a July 8, 2023, video uploaded to YouTube that he was sober and a better dad. He said he hadn’t had a drink in six months.
“In fact, it’s probably one of those life-changing moments that saved my life in a way,” Payne said of the podcast.
He was nominated for three Brit Awards, twice in 2018 for single and video for “Strip That Down,” and in 2019, for “For You.”
The Brit Awards wrote on X Wednesday: “We’re incredibly sad to learn of the tragic passing of Liam Payne. Our thoughts and prayers are with his friends and family at this time.”
Payne was a father to a son named Bear. Payne shared his son with Cheryl Cole, who was a judge on the reality show when Payne and One Direction were discovered.
The musical duo known as Jedward, made up of John and Edward Grimes, who also found fame after “The X Factor” were among those mourning Payne’s death.
“Sending strength to Cheryl and his son Bear and all the One direction Family,” they wrote on X.
Charlie Puth, who worked with Payne on the 2017 song “Bedroom Floor,” wrote on Instagram that “I am in shock right now.”
“Liam was always so kind to me. He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I can not believe that he is gone,” Puth wrote. “I am so upset right now, may he rest in peace.”In the days before Payne’s death, his ex-fiancée Maya Henry alleged that the musician repeatedly contacted her and her relatives. “Ever since we broke up, he messages me, will blow up my phone, not only from his phone, it’s always from different phone numbers too, so I never know where it’s gonna come from,” she said in a TikTok video on Oct. 6.
The Daily Mail on spoke to her lawyers and said that that Henry had issued a cease-and-desist letter to Payne. Her attorneys did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The 23-year-old, whose relationship with Payne ended in 2022, penned a novel called “Looking Forward” about a girl who falls in love with a charming pop star. The book has a content warning because it deals with abortion, abuse, violence, self-harm, substance abuse and eating disorders. She has said it was “inspired by true events.”
