Payne, who was one of the group’s standout singers, fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, emergency services officials said.
Payne, 31, had died earlier in the day after falling from the third floor of the hotel, according to a statement from Buenos Aires police.
Liam Payne, who rose to fame as a singer and songwriter for the British group One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. He was 31. His death was confirmed by Alberto Crescenti, the director of emergency services in Buenos Aires. The circumstances of the fall were unclear.
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. Police said in an earlier statement that they rushed to the hotel in response to an emergency call just after 5 p.m. local time warning of an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
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.”
One Direction burst onto the scene in 2011 when the group’s debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” hit No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Five of its other songs reached the chart’s Top 10, including “Story of My Life,” “Drag Me Down” and “Live While We’re Young.”
The group, which had 29 total hits on Billboard’s Hot 100, would go on to release five albums and become one of the definitive boy bands of the 2010s, largely by eschewing the sleek precision and polish of an earlier generation of pop vocal groups.
One Direction announced in 2015 that it was taking a break from performing as an ensemble, and each of the artists has since invested most of their time in their solo careers. But in January 2016, the band split, Us Weekly reported.
Mr. Payne released a single called “Teardrops” under his name earlier this year.
Mr. Payne auditioned as a solo artist on the television show “The X Factor” in 2008. But he found even further success in 2010 after trying out again with a jazzy rendition of the old standard “Cry Me a River.” He was put together with four other contestants — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Tomlinson — for another round of auditions as a group, which eventually turned into One Direction.