One Direction ex-singer Liam Payne falls to death at Argentina hotel
Liam Payne’s ex-fiance revealed on a podcast that aired just two days before the former One Direction star’s death that he would send her and her mum text messages saying he was ‘going to die’.
Liam Payne’s ex-fiance revealed on a podcast that aired just two days before the former One Direction star’s death that he would send her and her mum text messages saying he was ‘going to die’.
Appearing on The Internet Is Dead podcast earlier this week, Maya Henry described how Payne would “always play with death” in the aftermath of their breakup.
“He would say ‘I’m going to die I’m not doing well’,” she said.
“He would text my mum saying ‘I’m not doing well. Have Maya contact me’ because I wouldn’t respond. He called my mum saying ‘I’m not going to be around much longer’.”
According to TMZ, there were reports Henry alleged the singer had left her after asking her to get an abortion. After going through with the abortion, Henry later told People Magazine: “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have done it. But then also, if I were to have made a different decision, then I would’ve lost the person that I loved.”
The British singer and former member of the group One Direction died Wednesday aged 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, police in Buenos Aires said.
Minutes after the news broke, distraught fans — most in their 20s and 30s — and onlookers gathered near the scene in the Argentine capital, where medical teams were still at work. “The news hit me hard,” fan Pilar Bilik, 27, said on the scene.
“So upsetting to hear the news of @LiamPayne passing. Sending love and condolences to his family & loved ones. RIP my friend,” reality star and businesswoman Paris Hilton wrote on social media with a crying emoji.
On Instagram stories, singer-songwriter Charlie Puth wrote: “I am in shock right now,” sharing an image image of the two artists together. “He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I can not believe he is gone.”
Anne Twist, the mum of former fellow One Direction member Harry Styles, posted an image of a broken heart on Instagram.
“RIP Liam... I can’t believe this is real... absolutely heartbreaking...,” German DJ Zedd wrote on X.
So upsetting to hear the news of @LiamPayne passing😢 Sending love and condolences to his family & loved ones. 🙠RIP my friend🥺
— Paris Hilton (@ParisHilton) October 16, 2024
RIP Liam… I can’t believe this is real…
— Zedd (@Zedd) October 16, 2024
absolutely heartbreaking … 💔
“Liam James Payne, composer and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Palermo,” a police statement said.
Minutes after the news broke, distraught fans and onlookers gathered near the scene in the Argentine capital, where medical teams were still at work.
Reports of ‘an aggressive man’
The singer had suffered “very serious injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall,” the head of the city’s SAME emergency medical service, Alberto Crescenti, told local television, adding “there was no possibility of resuscitation.”
Crescenti said emergency personnel rushed to the Casa Sur hotel in the capital’s Palermo neighborhood after a 911 call was made at 17.04 pm local time.
They arrived seven minutes later and “verified the death of this man, who we later learnt was a singer.”
The police statement said the emergency call was made to report “an aggressive man who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.”
TMZ reports Payne was seen acting “erratically” in the hotel lobby earlier where he “smashed his laptop and had to be carried back to his room”.
Payne appeared to have suffered a fracture at the base of his skull from the fall Crescenti said was “about 13 or 14 metres”.
Audio from the hotel manager’s call to the emergency services was obtained by Argentine newspaper La Nacion. “We have a guest who’s taken too many drugs,” the man tells the 911 responder. “He’s smashing up the room. So we need someone to come.”
The news comes after Payne was spotted dancing at his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert in Argentina earlier this month.
‘Lost part of adolescence’
Boy band sensation One Direction emerged in 2010 when then-teenagers Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik appeared on British television contest The X Factor. Payne had been on The X Factor twice before striking gold.
In 2016, the group announced it was going on an indefinite hiatus, but not splitting up.
The band went on to release an album of radio-ready pop each year in time for the holiday shopping season and became one of the highest-grossing live acts in the world.
In 2016, after Malik had left, the group said it was on an indefinite hiatus, but not splitting up.
Singer-songwriter Payne announced he was working on a solo album that same year, following in the footsteps of other band members — leading fans to believe the band was in fact not getting back together.
The singer had posted a picture of himself and girlfriend Kate Cassidy to social media in the hours before his death.
He had attended a concert by former band mate Horan in Buenos Aires on October 2, according to Billboard magazine.
“I feel like it’s a part of adolescence lost,” fan Lena Duek, 21, said outside the hotel, adding she had been hoping for the band, which accompanied her teen years, to reunite.
“I’m in shock, I can’t believe it. I live five blocks away and thought I had to be here,” said another fan Martina Di Lalla, 23.
Solo career
Payne’s lead single Strip that Down peaked at number three on the UK charts, and number 10 on the US Billboard top songs list.
The album, “LP1,” was released in December 2019.
He had a number of songwriting credits across One Direction’s catalogue. Born August 29, 1993, Payne has in recent years spoken openly about struggles with alcoholism and fame.
In a 2023 video posted to his YouTube account, he said he had spent time at a rehab facility and discussed his efforts to stop drinking: “I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore. And I’m sure you guys didn’t either.” Last year he said he was working on a second solo album, and released a single this March.
Relationship history
After One Direction, Payne made headlines thanks to his high-profile romance with Cheryl Cole, a Girls Aloud star who was a judge on The X Factor when Payne was a contestant on the show. The pair split in 2018 blaming his busy travel schedule. They share a seven-year-old son called Bear.
Payne went on to get engaged to Henry, a model from Texas. The relationship ended in 2022. Earlier this month his ex-fiance filed a cease and desist letter against Payne, accusing him of obsessively trying to contact her despite their separation.
Payne began dating influencer Kate Cassidy in late 2022.
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