Liam Payne Dies at 31 in Argentina Hotel Fall

Photo Credit: Liam Payne by Ashley Newby / CC by 2.0

Former One Direction star Liam Payne was found dead after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires. He was 31.Liam Payne, former member of British boy band One Direction, was found dead on Wednesday after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, according to local officials. He was 31 years old.

Local police said Payne fell from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires. Medics confirmed his death on the spot, according to a police statement. The communications director for the Buenos Aires Security Ministry, Pablo Policicchio, told The Associated Press that Payne “jumped from the balcony of his room.”

Police responded to an emergency call at the hotel just after 5 PM, and rushed to the scene, having been warned of an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.” Authorities told a local Argentinian TV station they were investigating the circumstances of his death, and were conducting an autopsy.

Payne was vocal about his struggles with alcoholism over the years. He posted a video to his YouTube channel in July last year, explaining that he had been sober for six months following treatment for addiction.The former One Direction star was one of its five members, alongside Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson. The group formed in 2010 when each of them auditioned for British singing competition “The X Factor,” two years after Payne’s first attempts to be on the show. He was 16 when he finally got to compete.

Though individually, each singer failed to advance through the competition as solo acts, Simon Cowell and the show’s other judges combined the five singers into one of the most successful contemporary boy bands. But even then, the group lost the competition.

The band became known for their pop hits, like “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Night Changes,” and “Story of My Life.” One Direction had six Top 10 hits on the Billboard charts by the time they broke up in 2016, and a devoted fan base that continues to adore them.