Liam Payne, One Direction star, dies in Buenos Aires at 31 after fall from hotel balcony

The head of local emergency services said there was ‘no possibility’ of saving singer’s life due to the severity of his injuries

Liam Payne, the singer who shot to international fame as a member of One Direction, has died at age 31.

Police in Buenos Aires stated that the musician was found dead after falling from a balcony on the third floor of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in the Argentine capital. The AFP news agency quotes local police as saying they arrived on Costa Rica Street in the city’s Palermo neighbourhood shortly after 1700 local time [GMT 2000].

“Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Palermo,” said authorities in a statement.

Follow live updates and tributes following the death of Liam Payne here.

Liam Payne attending the premiere of ‘I Am Bolt’ in London in 2016. He died at age 31 on October 16, 2024, following a fall at a hotel (Getty Images)

Pablo Policicchio, a spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, told the Associated Press that Payne “had thrown himself from the balcony of his room.”

He said 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.” It’s unclear if that person was Payne. When first responders arrived, they found his body in the hotel courtyard, Policicchio said.

Head of the local emergency services Alberto Crescenti told Buenos Aires Times that “there was no possibility” for first responders to save Payne’s life as he had “very serious injuries.”

“He had very serious injuries that caused his death, such as a fracture at the base of the skull,” said Crescenti, who added that investigators would look further into the circumstances of his death.

Payne arrived in South America to attend a concert by fellow One Direction member Niall Horan earlier this month. He claimed at the time he wanted to “square up a couple of things” with his former bandmate, and was later criticized by fans for his behavior at the Movistar Arena.

One Direction's Liam Payne, second from right, poses for a photo with fellow band members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson at the GQ Men of the Year Awards in London on September 6, 2011 (AP)

Liam James Payne was born in Wolverhampton on August 29, 1993. He first auditioned for The X Factor in 2008, when he was just 14 years old. Payne progressed through several rounds of the show but was eventually told by judge Simon Cowell to “come back in two years.”

In 2010, Payne returned to The X Factor and competed in several rounds as a solo artist. At the suggestion of guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, he was put together with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik to form a five-piece boy band - One Direction.

Although One Direction only finished in third place on The X Factor their popularity skyrocketed after the competition. Their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” was released in September 2011 and topped the charts in several countries. It went on to win the 2012 Brit Award for British Single of the Year.

One Direction’s debut album, Up All Night, was released in November 2011 and became a massive international success, making them the first UK group to reach number one in the United States with their debut album. The band released four more records together: 2012’s Take Me Home, 2013’s Midnight Memories, 2014’s Four and 2015’s Made in the AM.

After the band went on hiatus in 2015, Payne began his solo career with the hit single “Strip That Down.” He released a solo album, LP1, in December 2019.

He had a son, Bear, born in 2017, with former Girls Aloud member and The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole.

Follow live updates and tributes following the death of Liam Payne here.