One Direction star Liam Payne dies after balcony fall

BBC - Liam Payne, the former One Direction star, has died aged 31 in Argentina after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, police say.

In a statement, police said they discovered Payne's body after an emergency crew responded to an call in the upscale neighbourhood of Palermo on Wednesday.

Payne had risen to global fame as part of the much-loved boyband created on the X Factor TV show in 2010, along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.

Earlier this month, Payne had attended the Argentina concert of his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.

According to police in Buenos Aires, officers at the scene were initially responding to reports "of an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol".

When they arrived at the hotel, officials were told a loud sound had been heard in an interior courtyard. Soon after, they discovered the body there. A police investigation has been launched.

Emergency medical services director Alberto Crescenti told local media that Payne had suffered "serious injuries" and that an autopsy will be carried out.

Mr Crescenti declined to answer questions about the circumstances of Payne's fall from the balcony.

Payne posted on Snapchat just hours before the incident, saying: "It's a lovely day here in Argentina" but the video was from earlier in the week where he had spent time with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.

The UK Foreign Office confirmed it was in touch with authorities in Argentina "regarding reports of the death of a British man". No further details were given.

Once news of his death broke, fans began gathering outside the Buenos Aires hotel where the death took place, prompting police to cordon off the entrance. Some lit candles in his memory.

"I was in my living room and my sister told me Liam died," a young fan named Violeta Antier told Reuters news agency. "We couldn't believe it. We came here directly to confirm it was true."

Ms Antier said she saw Payne at the Niall Horan concert just two weeks ago.

Another woman cried as she explained why she had come to the hotel, telling Reuters in Spanish: "This is the only way I have to say goodbye to him".

One Direction had global success with hits such as What Makes You Beautiful and Story of My Life, while Payne also enjoyed some solo success after the band announced in 2015 that they were going on hiatus the following year.

Tributes have also been pouring in online.

Max George, from boyband The Wanted, said he met Payne while he was competing on The X Factor with One Direction, and described his death as "absolutely devastating".

"Over the last few years I had the pleasure of getting to know him personally and spent some treasured time with him," he said on Instagram.

George said Payne had been "wonderful" in terms of support when his bandmate Tom Parker fell ill with a brain tumour.

When Parker died in 2022 at the age of 33, Payne attended the funeral.

Singer Olly Murs, who was on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said he was "lost for words".

"Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I'm truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad," he wrote on Instagram.

On Instagram, presenter Dermot O'Leary said he remembered Payne fondly.

"I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on the X factor and blowing us away singing Sinatra," he wrote alongside a picture of the pair.

"He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful and was always humble."

"Sending love and condolences to his family [and] loved ones," socialite Paris Hilton wrote on X, formerly Twitter. "RIP my friend."

In August this year, Payne was announced as a judge on a new Netflix talent show alongside former Destiny's Child singer Kelly Rowland and The Pussycat Dolls star Nicole Scherzinger.

Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton in the UK, first tried for stardom when he auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor in 2008 – but judge Simon Cowell told him to "come back in two years".

He did, impressing the judges more in 2010, and was put together with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage and One Direction were born.

The group had four UK number one albums and four number one singles as well as topping charts around the world, before Zayn Malik left in 2015, prompting the band's hiatus.

In 2017, Payne's debut solo single Strip That Down, which peaked at number three on the Official UK Chart, and his collaboration with Rita Ora on the song For You - from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack – also reached the top 10.

He began a relationship with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy in 2016 and they had a son, Bear, the following year. The couple split in 2018.

The BBC has seen a cease and desist letter against the singer earlier this week from another of Payne's former partners, Maya Henry.

It "pertains to alleged egregious conduct".

She had posted on social media accusing him of repeatedly contacting her. Payne did not respond to the accusations.