Liam Payne of One Direction Has Died at 31

Liam Payne, the British singer who rocketed to international fame as a teenager as one-fifth of the boy band One Direction, has died after falling from a hotel room in Argentina, according to reports.

Police in Buenos Aires confirmed to CNN in a statement that Payne had fallen from the third floor of a hotel in the city’s Palermo neighborhood. Citing local media, Reuters reported that Payne was found in an interior patio at the hotel.

Payne, along with Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan, formed One Direction in 2010 after the boys appeared separately on the UK’s The X Factor. The boy band was a sensation and spawned several hits before disbanding in 2015 to focus on solo projects.

Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction on ABC’s Good Morning America on November 26, 2013, in New York City.Kevin Mazur

Payne continued to release music, most notably a single “Strip That Down” in 2017. That same year he welcomed a son, Bear, with his then girlfriend, British pop star Cheryl Cole.

Liam Payne told Glamour UK in a 2021 interview that raising his son with Cole was “fantastic.”

“Cheryl is literally the best person to coparent with,” he said. “No stress involved. It’s very, very relaxed, and we spend a lot of time on FaceTime. And it’s been really lovely, and I’m closer to them than I’ve ever been before, actually, which is really, really nice.”

In the same interview he reflected on his fame and early life in the spotlight. “I think it’s taught me lots about how you would measure success,” he said. “I came from a family that weren’t very well off. We didn’t have a lot. My dad was in debt actually when I started. So, success for me always meant a monetary thing to start off with.”

He continued, “But then as I got older, I realized I don’t really buy all that much. I don’t really spend a hell of a lot of money. So, it can’t be about a money sort of thing. And it’s more now become more about happiness and experiences. And the one thing I always say about my job, no matter what, and everybody gets annoyed at their job sometimes, it is what it is. But for me, at least I get to put a smile on someone’s face.”