Liam Payne’s shocking death sparks outpouring of grief and questions

() – More than an hour after sunset on Wednesday in Buenos Aires, a red van stopped in front of a side door of the four-star Hotel CasaSur Palermo to remove the body of former member of the band One Direction, Liam Payne, from the place.

Payne, 31, died this Wednesday after falling from the third floor of the hotel, according to a statement from the Buenos Aires Police. As fans began to gather outside the hotel to hold a vigil for the popular musician, the circumstances surrounding his death were still unclear.

Pablo Policicchio, communications director of the Ministry of Security of Buenos Aires, said in a statement to The Associated Press that Payne “had jumped from the balcony of his room.” Police responded to the hotel in response to an emergency call shortly after 5 p.m. local time and warned of an “aggressive man who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”

Before the crowd of curious onlookers and journalists gathered on the street in front of the hotel, the fire department truck was parked as close as possible to the exit door, apparently to prevent others from seeing the scene while the first responders worked. In death, Payne had the privacy he rarely had in life.

One Direction was reunited by famed producer Simon Cowell after watching Payne and four other talented young people – Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan – audition for the British version of “The X-Factor.” Individually, they weren’t good enough, Cowell thought.

Together they turned out to be a sensation.

Their fans called them 1D and they became a worldwide phenomenon by being the first group to have their first four albums debut in the number one spot on Billboard 200. Their huge fan base, nicknamed Directioners, propelled the pop group to sell more than 50 million records before the members broke up to pursue solo careers. They were known for songs like “What Makes You Beautiful,” “Best Song Ever,” and “Story of My Life.”

Payne previously spoke about the mental weight of fame.

“I don’t think I have problems in the sense that one would naturally think when I’m walking down the street and every person stops me,” he told her. he told Esquire Middle East in 2019. “I mean, sometimes it happens, but it’s mostly mentally where you struggle with it. It is preparing and always knowing that you can be photographed.”

Malik was the first to leave the band in 2015. The others followed his example.

has reached out to Payne’s former bandmates and Cowell for comment. As of Thursday morning, none had made a public statement.

In the hours following news of his death, other artists paid tribute to Payne, including Charlie Puth and Zedd.

“I’m in shock right now,” Puth wrote on his Instagram Story. “Liam was always very kind to me. He was one of the first major artists I worked with. “I can’t believe he’s gone.”

Payne had shared undated photos from Argentina on his social media in recent days. He was also seen attending his former bandmate Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires on October 2, according to videos published on the networks social of the show.

Payne released his first solo album in 2019, titled “LP1.” Last year, he announced plans for a new album and tour that were later postponed after Payne suffered a kidney infection.

He had spoken openly about his past struggles with substance abuse and talked about being sober for six months in a video shared on YouTube in the summer of 2023.

“It’s good to be in this position,” he said at the time. “I definitely don’t need those things anymore. “The party is over.”

Last spring, Payne released the song “Teardrops.”

“I always think about images as much as I think about sounds when I make music,” Payne said in a video in which he appears recording the song. “The feelings that these chords and other things transmit to me, each of these songs is a story of my life.”