Liam Payne, One Direction alum, reportedly died after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina
Liam Payne, a One Direction alum, died after falling from the third floor of his hotel room in Argentina, according to state police.
According to police, Payne was staying at the hotel CasaSur in Palermo.
According to ABC news, Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, said on Argentina’s Todo Noticias TV channel that Payne fell into a courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighborhood of Argentina’s capital. Crescenti did not answer further questions about the incident, including whether Payne jumped from the balcony or fell by accident.
Liam was in Argentina to attend former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan’s concert
Crescenti told Todo Noticias that authorities were investigating the circumstances of his death as well as conducting an autopsy. Argentine media reported that Payne was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan. According to Niall’s schedule, the Buenos Aires concert took place on October 2.
Born on Aug. 29, 1993, in Wolverhampton, England, Payne auditioned for the fifth season of The X Factor UK in 2010, in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh. He previously auditioned for the show in 2008, but was eliminated. He returned two years later, passed the initial audition. Cowell eventually placed him in a boyband made up of fellow contestants Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik
After finishing in 3rd place, One Direction went on to release worldwide hits including “What Makes You Beautiful, “Night Changes,” and “Steal My Girl.” The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 a year after Malik left the group.
Payne later signed to Capitol Records U.K. as a solo artist in 2016 and released his debut single “Strip That Down” featuring Quavo the following year. He released his latest single, “Teardrops” earlier this year.
In 2017, Payne had a son with his ex-girlfriend (and X Factor judge) Cheryl Cole. He was currently dating influencer Kate Cassidy.
Battle with alcohol
In 2021, Payne discussed his substance-use issues on the Diary of a CEO podcast. There, he revealed his struggle with depression and addiction during the One Direction years. In May 2023, Payne revealed he had gone 100 days without alcohol. “Things are really, really good. I’m sober now over 100 days. I feel amazing,” Payne said at the time “I feel really, really good, and support from the fans and everything has been really, really good. So, I’m super happy.”
A few months later, in August 2023, Payne posted to his social media accounts that he had been hospitalized with a “serious kidney infection” and was postponing his South African tour dates. He was released from the hospital a few weeks later.
