Former One Direction star Liam Payne has died aged just 31, police said last night.
The multi-award-winning singer fell from the third floor to the patio of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires before doctors confirmed his death.
Payne rose to stardom aged 16 after forming The X Factor boy band in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.
Despite placing third on the show, the group achieved global fame, selling 70 million records worldwide and topping charts around the world.
But the much-loved star was no stranger to health issues, which she spoke candidly about throughout her short career.
He suffered two major scares, one of which required him to receive 32 injections in his arm every day.
Payne rose to stardom aged 16 after forming The X Factor boy band in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.
(From left) Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne in 2010
Liam Payne arrives for a film premiere at the Odeon Leicester Square in November 2010
Born early and endless medical tests as a child.
In the band’s 2011 biography, ‘Dare to Dream – Life as One Direction’, Liam admitted: “When I was born, I was effectively dead.”
In the book, which documents the group’s rollercoaster ride to stardom, he adds: “The doctors couldn’t get any reaction from me so they had to bring me in and although I seemed fine, there were underlying problems.”
‘I was born three weeks early and continued to be sick.
‘From the age of zero to four I was always in the hospital having tests but they couldn’t find out what was wrong.
‘They discovered that one of my kidneys was not working properly and had scars.
‘I had to have 32 injections in my arm in the morning and at night to try to get better.
“I still have both kidneys, but one is not working, so I have to be careful not to drink too much, not even water, and I have to stay as healthy as possible.”
A heartbreaking video shows Liam Payne singing and dancing with his former bandmate Niall Horan, where he then posted a photo with Horan on Snapchat with the caption: ‘Reunited.’
One of Liam Payne’s last selfies in Buenos Aires was captioned: “Beautiful day in Argentina.”
Tour canceled after serious kidney infection
Last year, the Story of My Life singer was rushed to hospital in “agony” due to severe kidney pain.
He fell ill while on vacation at Lake Como celebrating his first anniversary with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.
Just a month earlier, he had been forced to postpone his South American tour due to a “serious kidney infection.”
“It is with a heavy heart that I have to tell you that we have no choice but to postpone my upcoming South American tour,” he wrote at the time.
“It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and the doctors’ orders are that I need to rest and recover now.”
This painful and unpleasant disease can cause fever, back pain and a burning sensation when urinating.
If left untreated, it can cause permanent kidney damage.
A common bladder infection, known as cystitis, is often the cause of a kidney infection.
The initial infection can be caused by a type of bacteria that enters the urethra, a tube that carries urine out of the body.
Although most people who get cystitis do not develop a kidney infection, sometimes bacteria travel from the bladder to the kidneys.
Last year, the Story of My Life singer was rushed to hospital in “agony” due to severe kidney pain. He fell ill while on holiday at Lake Como celebrating his first anniversary with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy (pictured)
(From left) Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles of One Direction in 2015
Open about struggles with alcohol.
In July 2023, Liam revealed that he had completed 100 days in a Louisiana rehab after hitting “rock bottom.”
During his three-month stay at the center, he had minimal contact with the outside world and spent much time focusing on art and poetry.
“Turning the phone back on was a little scary,” he told his fans in a video. “I’ve been trying to get to know this new guy.”
He also addressed controversial comments he made on YouTube star Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast in 2022 about his former band members.
Expressing remorse, he added: “I shot everyone else… I seemed very stubborn.”
“I want to apologize for that.”
Liam thanked his son Bear, then six, and his ex-girlfriend and Bear’s mother, Cheryl, for supporting his decision to get better.
He added that his former bandmates “stayed with me” and “came to my rescue.”
Speaking to Men’s Health Australia in 2019, Liam also explained how challenging he found fame, and often turned to alcohol to cope.
“It’s almost like putting on the Disney costume before you go on stage and underneath the Disney costume I was angry most of the time because there was no other way to understand what was going on,” he said.
‘I mean, it was fun. We had a great time, but there were certain parts where it got a little toxic.”
Cheryl and Liam Payne attending the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London in 2018
Dark thoughts but committed to recovery.
The What Makes You Beautiful singer also spoke candidly about his mental health and substance abuse issues, admitting to having “severe suicidal thoughts” and heavy drug use during his time with One Direction.
Speaking on the Diary of a CEO podcast in 2021, he told host Stephen Bartlett: “I was worried about how far my fund would go.
‘Where is the bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. Nobody would have ever seen it.
‘There are some things I’ve definitely never talked about.
“It was very, very, very serious. And it was a problem. And it was only until I saw myself after that that I thought, “Okay, I need to get myself together.”
He also spoke of seeing photos of himself on a boat looking “completely bloated”, referring to his appearance then as his “pills and alcohol face”.
He added: ‘My face was like 10 times bigger than it is now. I just didn’t like it very much and then I made a change.’
