Former One Direction member Liam Payne has reportedly died at age 31 after falling from a hotel balcony, according to TMZ. Payne was staying at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires when witnesses say they saw him fall from a third-floor balcony, landing on a wooden deck below. It’s said he was behaving “erratically” in the lobby just before the fall, smashing his laptop and being carried back to his room.
Payne previously admitted to struggles with substance abuse addictions, and earlier this week TMZ notes that Payne’s ex-fiancée Maya Henry said he’d left her after an argument. He had also been hospitalized last year due to a kidney infection that forced him to cancel his South American tour.
Payne rose to fame in his teens after being selected to join One Direction after auditioning for the British singing competition show, The X Factor. After the group garnered massive international success and experiencing friction within the group, he embarked on his solo career in 2016, releasing his solo debut album, LP1, in 2019. He was said to be working on his comeback album this year, and in March, released the single “Teardrops,” which was written by fellow boy band alum JC Chasez of NSYNC. It’s unknown how far he was into the recording of any potential new music.
