Liam Payne death latest: Harry Styles says he’s ‘truly devastated’ in tribute as authorities prepare autopsy
Liam Payne, solo star and former One Direction member, has died aged 31 after falling from the third-floor balcony of a hotel in Buenos Aires
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One Direction star Liam Payne has died suddenly aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in the Palermo neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Local authorities have said they will conduct an autopsy and investigate the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death.
Payne’s family said in a statement issued by his spokeswoman: “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.
In a joint statement signed “Louis, Zayn, Niall and Harry”, Payne’s One Direction bandmates said: “We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing.
“In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say. But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.”
Payne rose to fame while competing on season five of The X Factor in 2010, when he was placed in the band One Direction along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.
They went on to become one of the world’s most successful boybands, selling 70 million records and performing in stadiums around the world.
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Liam Payne fans sing his songs at candlelit vigil outside hotel after singer's death
Liam Payne: The ambitious One Direction star who struggled with dark side of fame
Liam Payne, who rose to global fame as a member of the British pop band One Direction, has died aged 31.
The singer died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, officials said on Wednesday 16 October. Pablo Policicchio, the spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, said in a statement to the Associated Press that police were dispatched to the hotel in response to an emergency call about an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Payne was drawn to singers such as Usher and Justin Timberlake. He remembered his childhood as a happy one: his father, Geoff, worked as a fitter, while his mother, Karen, was a nursery nurse.
“It was great, though we didn’t have much,” he told The Telegraph in a 2017 interview. “Dad was in debt, but they did the best they could. It makes you dream a bit, you know?”
Liam Payne: The ambitious One Direction star who struggled with dark side of fame
Singer, who rose to fame as a member of boyband One Direction, died aged 31 after falling from a hotel in Buenos Aires
Niall Horan’s brother Greg pays tribute to ‘top man’ Payne
Greg Horan, the older brother of One Direction’s Niall, has shared a tribute to Payne.
Writing in a post on Instagram, Greg said he was “heartbroken” by the news, and that Payne was “only one of four lads I was happy enough to take my place in Niall’s life as a brother”.
“You will be forever missed Liam words can’t describe how much I want to grab my brother and mind him now while the world shows their memories of you and him and the boys,” he said, calling Payne a “top young boy to a man, a son, a brother”.
“My heart goes out to your family parents and sisters and your son Bear and your 1D brothers. 10th October we met and we started out that evening as five families into one big 1D family. Thank you for all the laughs bro watch down on all your family and mind them. Lots of love kiddo x x x 1D 4 LIFE.”
Who is Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy? Inside One Direction singer’s last relationship before death
In the days before his death, Liam Payne’s girlfriend of two years, 25-year-old influencer Kate Cassidy, had joined him on his trip to Argentina. The pair had been documenting their trip together on social media.
Cassidy had been on the trip with Payne for two weeks before she decided to return home to her Florida home.
In a vlog posted on her TikTok account two days before Payne’s death, Cassidy said she was “so ready to leave” Buenos Aires after their five day trip had turned into a two week long holiday.
Full story:
Who is Liam Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy? Inside One Direction star’s relationship
Payne was on holiday with influencer girlfriend in days before his death
Backstreet Boys pay tribute to Liam Payne
“Words can not express the emotions we are collectively feeling right now, and it seems like the rest of the world is in the same boat,” a statement from the official Backstreet Boys account on X/Twitter said.
“Our hearts go out to Liam’s family, friends, and Directioners around the world. Rest in peace brother.”
Words can not express the emotions we are collectively feeling right now, and it seems like the rest of the world is in the same boat.
— Backstreet Boys (@backstreetboys) October 17, 2024
Our hearts go out to Liam’s family, friends, and Directioners around the world.
Rest in peace brother.
How Liam Payne felt about One Direction fame
Liam Payne referred to the time he spent in One Direction as “like uni”, but would later open up about his experiences of burnout and claustrophobia: “Cabin fever,” he told The Telegraph. “It sent me a bit AWOL at one point, if I’m honest. I can remember when there were 10,000 people outside our hotel. We couldn’t go anywhere. It was just gig to hotel, gig to hotel. And you couldn’t sleep, because they’d still be outside.”
He said his exasperation with fame came to a head in New York in 2012 when he was walking to a restaurant with his parents, and a photographer accidentally pushed his mum down. “I was like, ‘Oh, f*** this. F*** this s***,’” he recalled. “There was a swarm of them and I just wanted a burger with my parents. I cried my eyes out. I thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ and really hated my life.”
Malik announced in 2015 that he was leaving the band; One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus just months later. “It was a little bit dark and twisted towards the end of it,” Payne told The Guardian of the band’s split. “But the last few shows were really beautiful moments because the pressure cooker had been let off.
“It was almost like counting down to holiday... we were going to wake up that Monday morning with no schedule.” Payne was in therapy for two years after 1D split: “It was difficult at the start, because I didn’t really know anything about myself. It was a bit of a numb feeling.”
He spoke often about his struggles with alcoholism. In June 2022, he appeared in a controversial podcast interview with social media influencer Logan Paul, where he made a number of outlandish claims about One Direction and his former bandmates. Following a backlash, Payne apologised and later announced that he had checked into rehab.
“A lot of what I said came from the wrong place,” he said in a video shared to his YouTube channel. “I was so angry at what was going on around me and instead of taking a look inwards I decided to look outwards at everybody else, and I just think, yeah, I took it out on everybody else, which is just wrong, really.”
Despite regretting his remarks, he said the podcast interview helped him get “more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me”. He celebrated 100 days of sobriety in May 2023.
Liam Payne: The ambitious One Direction star who struggled with dark side of fame
Singer, who rose to fame as a member of boyband One Direction, died aged 31 after falling from a hotel in Buenos Aires
Liam Payne: The ambitious One Direction star who struggled with dark side of fame
Born in Wolverhampton, England, Payne was drawn to singers such as Usher and Justin Timberlake. He remembered his childhood as a happy one: his father, Geoff, worked as a fitter, while his mother, Karen, was a nursery nurse.
“It was great, though we didn’t have much,” he told The Telegraph in a 2017 interview. “Dad was in debt, but they did the best they could. It makes you dream a bit, you know?”
Believing a career in music would be “the thing that made my parents proudest”, he first appeared as a contestant on reality TV contest The X Factor in 2008, but was told by judge and show creator Simon Cowell to come back in two years.
When he returned in 2010, he was placed in the group One Direction alongside fellow contestants Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.
“At the start we couldn’t get past our own egos,” he told The Guardian in a 2019 interview. “Everybody had their own little thing – it was like having four older brothers.” He claimed to be “a bit more mature” than his bandmates, which he said was due to his focus and ambition for a career in show business.
After placing third in the final, One Direction was signed to judge and show creator Simon Cowell’s label Syco Entertainment. Their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful”, was an international success upon its release in September 2011, reaching No 1 on the UK singles chart.
What followed was a combined fan and media frenzy that drew comparisons to Beatlemania – One Direction, or “1D”, sold more than 70 million records worldwide and today are considered one of the biggest boybands in music history. They released five albums, including their 2011 debut Up All Night, and won a number of awards including seven Brits and four MTV Video Music awards.
Liam Payne: The ambitious One Direction star who struggled with dark side of fame
Singer, who rose to fame as a member of boyband One Direction, died aged 31 after falling from a hotel in Buenos Aires
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