Former One Direction band member Liam Payne died at age 31 on Wednesday after falling from the third floor of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to police. The exact circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation.
Here’s what we know:
911 call
On Wednesday, hotel staff requested urgent police assistance shortly before Payne fell, according to an emergency call obtained by CNN’s local affiliate Todo Noticias.
Police said in a statement later that day that personnel rushed to the hotel just after 5 p.m. local time in response to an emergency call warning of an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
“We have a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol,” the front desk manager said on the call. “He breaks things up. He is tearing the whole room apart.”
The manager said they needed “someone to be sent to us urgently,” as staff didn’t know “if the guest’s life is at risk.”
Hotel staff could not enter the room, where the guest had been staying “for two or three days,” the manager said on the call.
Investigation
On Thursday, the public prosecutor’s office in Argentina said in a statement that it is investigating Payne’s case and that “everything indicates that the musician was alone when the fall occurred and was experiencing some kind of episode due to substance abuse.”
On Wednesday, Buenos Aires police had said in a statement to The Associated Press that Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room,” without elaborating on how that conclusion was reached or whether the jump was intentional.
When reached by CNN on Thursday, Pablo Policicchio, communications director for the Buenos Aires Police, declined to clarify the statement provided to AP and referred CNN to the prosecutor’s office for more information.
Payne’s injuries suggest he might not have been fully conscious at the time of his fall, the public prosecutor’s report suggested. “Due to the position in which the body was found and the injuries from the fall, it is presumed that Payne did not adopt a reflexive posture to protect himself and may have fallen in a state of semi or total unconsciousness,’” it read.
The public prosecutor’s report added that a series of substances were seized in Payne’s Buenos Aires hotel room that might “indicate a prior situation of alcohol and drug consumption.”
Photos of Payne’s hotel room, released by Buenos Aires police, showed a smashed television.
As the investigation continues, the prosecutor’s office said the statements of five witnesses have been taken to reconstruct what happened in the hours before Payne’s death. The prosecutor in charge of the investigation, Marcelo Roma, confirmed that the preliminary autopsy report determined that Payne’s death was due to “polytrauma,” or multiple serious injuries, and “internal and external hemorrhage” as a result of the fall. Authorities are conducting an autopsy.
Mental health struggles
In recent years, Payne spoke publicly about facing battles with his mental health and substance abuse.
He reflected on recurring feelings of loneliness in the 2019 Sky show “Ant Middleton & Liam Payne: Straight Talking,” saying: “There’s times where that level of loneliness and people getting into you every day… every so often, you’re like, when will this end?”
“That’s almost nearly killed me a couple of times,” he added.
Payne also spoke in 2021 on “The Diary of a CEO” podcast about dealing with alcoholism, saying, “It was a problem” and had “really, really severe” aspects to it.
“It feels to me like when we were in the band, the best way to secure us because of how big it got was just lock us in our rooms. And, of course, what’s in the room? Minibar. So at a certain point I thought, well, I’m going to have a party for one – and that just seemed to carry on throughout many years of my life,” he added.
“It’s wild, but it was like the only way you could get frustration out in the day,” he said.
Journey to superstardom
Payne was born on August 29, 1993, in the English city of Wolverhampton and studied music technology at City of Wolverhampton College.
He was still living in the area when he shot to fame on the British TV contest show “The X Factor.” He first appeared on the show in 2008 as a 14-year-old, returning to audition a second time two years later on Simon Cowell’s advice.
He captured the hearts of young fans along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson after they were all grouped together on the show to form One Direction.
As they amassed a global fanbase of “Directioners,” the beloved boy band became the first to have its first four albums debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200. Also nicknamed 1D, the group sold more than 70 million records worldwide before disbanding in 2016.
The band was known for songs such as “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Best Song Ever,” “Story of My Life,” “Steal My Girl” and “Night Changes,” and Payne’s solo songs include “Strip That Down (feat. Quavo),” which reached No. 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100, “Familiar” and “Bedroom Floor.” Earlier this year, he released the song “Teardrops.”
Payne is survived by his 7-year-old son Bear, who he had with former Girls Aloud member and “X Factor” judge Cheryl Tweedy.
Heartfelt tributes
On Thursday, roughly 24 hours after the news of his death broke, Payne’s former bandmates released a statement mourning him, saying they were “completely devastated.”
“The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us,” Styles, Horan, Malik and Tomlinson said in a joint statement posted to the band’s Instagram page. “We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
“I am truly devastated by Liam’s passing. His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it,” Styles wrote in a separate statement posted to his Instagram page Thursday. “Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious.”
Styles wrote that the years he spent with Payne, who he described as “warm supportive, and incredibly loving,” will always remain “among the most cherished years of my life.”
On his personal Instagram account, Tomlinson also separately paid tribute to Payne, writing that he was “beyond devastated” about the loss of Payne, who he called “a brother.”
“Liam was somebody I looked up to everyday, such a positive, funny, and kind soul,” Tomlinson wrote. “And for the record, Liam was in my opinion the most vital part of One Direction. His experience from a young age, his perfect pitch, his stage presence, his gift for writing. The list goes on. Thank you for shaping us Liam.”
Malik also posted a tribute to his Instagram page Thursday, writing that he wished he could give Payne “a hug one last time.”
“When I was missing home as a 17 yr old kid you would always be there with a positive outlook and reassuring smile and let me know you were my friend and that I was loved,” he wrote, directly addressing Payne.
Horan mourned his former bandmate in a statement on his Instagram account Friday.
“We got to live our our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime,” Horan wrote. “I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”
Also on Friday, Cowell broke his silence concerning Payne’s death, writing on his verified Instagram, “You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens” and adding that he is “devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty. And I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you.”
Later in his post, Cowell wrote that Payne had come to see him last year. “Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all of the fun times we had together. And how proud you were to be a Dad. After you left, I was reminded that you were still the sweet, kind boy I had met all of those years ago.”
Fellow artists also voiced their grief and condolences, including singer Rita Ora, who collaborated with Payne in 2018 on a song called “For You.” She wrote on her X page on Thursday that she “loved working with him so much – he was such a joy to be around on and off stage.”
During her concert in Japan on Wednesday night, Ora paid tribute to Payne by performing “For You” and appeared to tear up throughout the song, video footage from the concert shows. At one point, Ora told the audience “I can’t even sing this right now” before she sat on the stage and placed her head in her hands. A photo of Ora and Payne in the studio together splashed across the screen behind her.
James Corden, a friend to Payne, posted a tribute on Thursday to Instagram in which he wrote, “Talking about Liam in the past tense is utterly heartbreaking.”
“I will treasure the moments I got to spend with him,” he added.
