Liam Payne, the previous One Route star, has died aged 31 in Argentina after falling from the third ground of a lodge in Buenos Aires, police say.
In an announcement, police mentioned they found Payne’s physique after an emergency crew responded to an emergency name within the upscale neighbourhood of Palermo.
Payne had risen to international fame as a part of the much-loved boyband created on the X Issue TV present in 2010, together with Harry Types, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.
Earlier this month, Payne had attended the Argentina live performance of his former One Route bandmate Niall Horan.
In accordance with police in Buenos Aires, officers on the scene had been initially responding to reviews “of an aggressive man who could have been underneath the results of medication and alcohol”.
After they arrived on the lodge, officers had been informed a loud sound had been heard in an inside courtyard. Quickly after, they found the physique there. A police investigation has been launched.
Emergency medical providers director Alberto Crescenti informed native media that Payne had suffered “severe accidents” and that an post-mortem shall be carried out.
Mr Crescenti declined to reply questions in regards to the circumstances of Payne’s fall from the balcony.
The UK Overseas Workplace confirmed it was in contact with authorities in Argentina “relating to reporters of the dying of a British man”. No additional particulars got.
Payne appeared to publish on Snapchat simply hours earlier than the incident, saying: “It is a beautiful day right here in Argentina.”
As soon as information of his dying broke, followers started gathering exterior the Buenos Aires lodge the place the dying befell, prompting police to cordon off the doorway. Some lit candles in his reminiscence.
“I used to be in my lounge and my sister informed me Liam died,” a younger fan named Violeta Antier informed Reuters information company. “We could not consider it. We got here right here instantly to substantiate it was true.”
Ms Antier mentioned she noticed Payne on the Niall Horan live performance simply two weeks in the past.
One other girl cried as she defined why she had come to the lodge, telling Reuters in Spanish: “That is the one approach I’ve to say goodbye to him”.
Tributes have additionally been pouring in on-line.
Max George, from boyband The Wished, mentioned he met Payne whereas he was competing on The X Issue with One Route, and described his dying as “completely devastating”.
“Over the previous few years I had the pleasure of attending to know him personally and spent some treasured time with him,” he mentioned on Instagram.
George mentioned Payne had been “fantastic” when it comes to assist when his bandmate Tom Parker fell sick with a mind tumour.
When Parker died in 2022 on the age of 33, Payne attended the funeral.
Singer Olly Murs, who was on The X Issue a 12 months earlier than One Route, mentioned he was “misplaced for phrases”.
“Liam shared the identical passions as me, the identical goals so to see his life now finish so younger hits onerous, I am really gutted and devastated for his household and naturally his son Bear shedding a dad,” he wrote on Instagram.
On Instagram, presenter Dermot O’Leary mentioned he remembered Payne fondly.
“I keep in mind him as a 14-year-old turning as much as audition on the X issue and blowing us away singing Sinatra,” he wrote alongside an image of the pair.
“He was all the time a pleasure, had time for everybody, well mannered, grateful and was all the time humble.”
“Sending love and condolences to his household [and] family members,” socialite Paris Hilton wrote on X, previously Twitter. “RIP my good friend.”
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton within the UK, first tried for stardom when he auditioned for ITV expertise present The X Consider 2008 – however choose Simon Cowell informed him to “come again in two years”.
He did, impressing the judges extra in 2010, and was put along with 4 different solo hopefuls on the boot camp stage and One Route had been born.
The group had 4 UK primary albums and 4 primary singles in addition to topping charts all over the world, earlier than saying they had been happening a hiatus in 2015.
In 2017, Payne’s debut solo single Strip That Down, which peaked at quantity three on the Official UK Chart, and his collaboration with Rita Ora on the tune For You – from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack – additionally reached the highest 10.
He started a relationship with Women Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy in 2016 they usually had a son, Bear, the next 12 months. The couple break up in 2018.
Earlier this week Maya Henry, one other former companion, mentioned to media by way of her legal professionals that she had issued a stop and desist letter in opposition to the singer.
She had posted on social media accusing him of repeatedly contacting her. Payne didn’t reply to the accusations.
