Former One Direction star Liam Payne has died at the age of 31, police announced last night.
The multi-award winning singer fell from the third floor in the courtyard of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires before medics confirmed his death.
Payne rose to fame at the age of 16 after forming The X Factor boy band in 2010 alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.
Despite coming third on the show, the group achieved worldwide fame, selling 70 million records worldwide and topping the charts around the world.
But the beloved star was no stranger to health issues, which he spoke candidly about during his all-too-short career.
He suffered two major scares, one of which required him to have 32 injections in his arm every day.
Payne rose to fame at the age of 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 prematurely 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 superstardom, he added: “The doctors couldn’t get any response from me so I had to be picked up and although it seemed like everything was fine, there were underlying problems.
‘I was born three weeks premature and remained ill.
‘From the age of zero to four, I was always in hospital for tests, but they couldn’t figure out what was wrong.
‘They discovered that one of my kidneys was not working properly and was scarred.
‘I had to have 32 injections in my arm in the morning and evening to try to make me better.
‘I still have both kidneys, but one isn’t working, so I have to be careful not to drink too much, even water, and I have to keep myself as healthy as possible.’
A heartbreaking video shows Liam Payne singing and dancing with his former bandmate Niall Horan, where he later 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 taken to hospital in ‘really painful’ due to severe kidney pain.
He fell ill while on holiday at Lake Como for his one-year anniversary with girlfriend Kate Cassidy.
Just a month earlier he had had 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 tour of South America,” he wrote at the time.
“It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and the doctors say I need to rest and recover now.”
The 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 may be caused by a type of bacteria entering the urethra, a tube that carries urine from your body.
Although most people who get bladder infections do not develop a kidney infection, bacteria sometimes travel from the bladder to the kidneys.
Last year, the Story of My Life singer was taken to hospital in ‘really painful’ due to severe kidney pain. He fell ill during a holiday at Lake Como for his one-year anniversary with girlfriend Kate Cassidy (pictured)
(From left) Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles of One Direction in 2015
Open about the struggle with alcohol
In July 2023, Liam revealed that he spent 100 days in rehab in Louisiana after hitting rock bottom.
During his three-month stay at the center, he had minimal contact with the outside world and spent a lot of time on art and poetry.
“It was a little scary to turn the phone back on,” he told 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 bandmates.
Expressing his regret, he added: ‘I shot at everyone… came across as a very big head.
‘I would like to apologize for that.’
Liam thanked his then six-year-old son Bear and his ex-girlfriend and Bear’s mother Cheryl for supporting his decision to get better.
He added that his former bandmates had “stayed with me” and “came to my rescue.”
In comments to Men’s Health Australia in 2019, Liam also explained how challenging he found fame, often turning to alcohol to cope.
“It’s almost like putting on the Disney costume before you go on stage, and under the Disney costume I was often pissed off because there was no other way to understand what was going on,” he said.
“I mean, it was fun. We had a blast, but there were certain parts where it just got a little bit toxic.”
Cheryl and Liam Payne attended the Brit Awards at the O2 Arena in London in 2018
Dark thoughts but committed to recovery
The What Makes You Beautiful singer had also opened up about his mental health and substance abuse issues, admitting he had “severe thoughts of suicide” 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 concerned about how far my bottom would be.
‘Where is the low point for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would have ever seen it.
“There are some things that I have absolutely never, ever talked about.
‘It was really bad. And it was a problem. And it wasn’t until I saw myself afterwards that I thought, “Okay, I have to fix myself.”‘
He also spoke about seeing photos of himself on a boat looking “all bloated,” calling his appearance at the time his “pills-and-booze face.”
He added: ‘My face was like ten times what it is now. I just didn’t like myself that much, and then I made a change.”
