Liam Payne, a former member of One Direction, has died. He was 31.
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Payne died after falling from the third floor of a hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to state police reported by ABC and CNN .
Per CNN, Payne fell from a balcony on Costa Rica Street in the Palermo neighborhood.
Born on Aug. 29, 1993, in Wolverhampton, England, Payne rose to fame after his audition for the fifth season of The X Factor in 2010, in front of judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.
Payne had previously auditioned for British television series in 2008 but was eliminated in the competition. When he returned two years later, it was a performance of Michael Bublé’s “Cry Me a River” that led to his placement in the newly formed boy band that would be called One Direction, mentored by Cowell. Fellow bandmates Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik completed the group.
While they didn’t win that season of The X Factor , One Direction became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, known for hits like “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Night Changes” and “Steal My Girl.” The group went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, after Malik had departed the band a year prior.
Payne later signed to Capitol Records U.K. as a solo artist in 2016 and released his debut single “Strip That Down” featuring Quavo the following year.
In addition to collaborating with other top artists, including DJ Zedd and J Balvin, his music had been streamed over two billion times as of 2018.
He also released his debut EP First Time in August 2018 and then his first solo studio LP1 the following year. Payne has had multiple songs land on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, including “Strip That Down,” which peaked at No. 10. Other tracks such as “For You” with Rita Ora, “Get Low” with Zedd and “Bedroom Floor” also made their way onto the chart. His latest release was his single “Teardrops” earlier this year.
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Payne shared a son, Bear Grey Payne, born in 2017, with his ex-girlfriend (and X Factor judge) Cole. He was currently dating influencer Kate Cassidy.
Payne also faced several controversies later in his career, including when he said on Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast in 2022 that he would always “dislike” former bandmate Malik, insisted that One Direction was formed around him and that he was the most successful solo artist outside of the band. (Many pointed to Harry Styles as proof he was wrong.)
Payne later apologized for his comments, saying he lashed out due to his “own frustrations” at his career. More recently, his ex, Maya Henry, accused the singer of harassing her and her family after they broke up in 2022.
Last year, the singer also opened up about his sobriety journey, sharing in a YouTube video that as of July 2023, he was six months sober after spending 100 days in a rehabilitation facility. He added that part of his motivation to get help was to be a better father to his son.
“I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore,” Payne said in the video at the time, adding, “I just kind of feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life now.”
The artist had traveled to Argentina for Horan’s concert, which occurred Oct. 2 at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires. He was seen in many fan videos cheering on his friend’s performance and interacting with the crowd.
In addition to his son, Payne is survived by his parents, Karen and Geoff; and two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.
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