One Direction suddenly became one of the most popular boy bands in the world in 2010. Liam Payne continued to struggle with his rapid success. He has now died aged 31.
Liam Payne was found dead in the capital of Argentina on Wednesday.
Former One Direction member Liam Payne has died. He fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires at 5 pm local time on Wednesday. The police announced this in the capital of Argentina. Payne was 31 years old.
Payne’s family confirmed his death on Thursday, according to British media. “We are heartbroken,” he said in a statement. “Liam will always be in our hearts and we will remember him as a kind, funny and brave soul.” Support each other as best you can and ask for privacy and space.
Payne was part of the boy band One Direction, which emerged from the TV show The X Factor in 2010. The band members were shocked by the death of their colleague. “We are completely devastated by Liam’s death,” Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan said in a joint statement. The four pop stars wrote in a message on Instagram that they now need time to process “the loss of our brother”. They added: “We will miss him very much. We love you, Liam.”
Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency organization, said on Argentine television that Payne had life-threatening injuries as a result of the fall. “We didn’t have a chance to do anything anymore,” he said. Authorities have opened an investigation into the circumstances of Payne’s death. An autopsy will be performed.
According to the Buenos Aires police, they were called to the hotel because there were reports of “an aggressive man who may be under the influence of drugs and alcohol”. There was no information at first as to whether this man was Payne.
Fans lit candles outside the hotel in Buenos Aires after the death of Liam Payne.
World fame as a teenager
Liam Payne was born in Wolverhampton, England in 1993. He first came to light at the age of 14. He took part in the music talent show “The X Factor”. Although he impressed with his performance, head judge and music producer Simon Cowell thought he was still too inexperienced. He should come back in two years, he told Payne.
Two years later, Payne was back on “The X Factor” – and he impressed. But there were many other good participants. Therefore, the jury decided to put five boys together in a boy band so that they could all progress. One Direction was born.
One Direction did not win a season of “The X Factor”. But producer Cowell still signed the group after the show. They were soon more successful than their competitors. Her first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” went straight to number one in the British charts.
One Direction – late in the boy band format – became pop. The band filled stadiums with screaming teenagers, and the hotels where they stayed were besieged by thousands of fans. One Direction has sold more than 70 million records.
Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik (left to right) in a TV show in Toronto in 2012.
The sudden notoriety was difficult for Payne to deal with. In 2019 he told the BBC: “I was very confused about the fame when it all happened.” It was very difficult to live a normal life outside of work. «But now I think as I understand it. I’m a lucky man,” he said at the time.
Over time, Payne also discovered a talent for singing. He wrote about half of the songs on the band’s last two albums. Among them are songs like “History”, “Steal My Girl” and “Story Of My Life”.
In 2016, One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus. As Payne told the BBC in the 2022 podcast, there was a lot of trouble between the members at the time. “There was a time when there was an argument backstage and one member pushed me against the wall,” he said, without giving his name. The group’s future was in jeopardy at every show.
Help to stay stable
Payne then launched a solo career. However, unlike Harry Styles, he was unable to build on the great success of One Direction. His single, released in March 2024, failed to chart, and there are media reports that a solo album and another documentary have been scrapped.
Payne got into a relationship with Cheryl Cole in 2016, who was a judge on “The X Factor” at the time. A year later they had a son, but in 2018 the relationship broke up.
Payne has repeatedly spoken openly about mental health problems and his addictions. In 2019, he told the Guardian that he started taking alcohol and medication to balance the “disagreements and disadvantages” of One Direction’s success. “I just needed a little help to keep myself stable,” he said.
Last year he said in an interview with IFL TV that he was sober for more than three months. “I feel great,” he said. “The support from the fans has been really good, so I’m very happy.”
On Wednesday, before his death, Payne shared impressions of his trip to Argentina in a video on Snapchat, according to Reuters news agency. He talked about riding horses, playing polo, and looking forward to the dog waiting for him at home. “A beautiful day here in Argentina,” he said.
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