Former One Direction singer Liam Payne died Wednesday after falling into the interior patio of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the Argentine Director of Emergency Medical Services, Alberto Crescenti, confirmed to CBS News.
He was 31 years old.
Crescenti said an ambulance arrived seven minutes later. He declined to answer questions about the incident, including whether Payne jumped from the balcony or fell by accident, The Associated Press reported.
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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,” Pablo Policicchio, a spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, said in a statement to The AP. Policicchio said Payne “had thrown himself from the balcony of his room.”
Payne, who was from the U.K., had attended a show in Argentina of his former bandmate, Niall Horan, according to media reports. Payne posted a series of social media videos showing him headed to Argentina.
Last year, Payne postponed his South American tour — with shows in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico — after a serious kidney infection. He told fans he was hospitalized with illness in a video explaining his decision.
Payne, who struggled with alcohol, announced in 2023 that he was 100 days sober. During a podcast interview in 2021, he detailed how One Direction members became too famous too fast — and said he often turned to drinking to deal with the mounting pressures of being in the globally famous boy band.
Formed in 2010 during “X Factor’s Boot Camp,” One Direction members Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik went on to sell 70 million records by 2020, according to the BBC.
In 2016, Payne signed a solo deal with Capitol Records’ U.K. division, roughly one month after former bandmate Harry Styles signed a recording contract with Colombia Records.
He had a son in 2017 with former “X Factor” judge Cheryl Cole.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Michael Roppolo
contributed to this report.
