Payne’s death was a shock to D1 fans and the public as a whole. By Essential Homme – HUGO x Liam Payne Interview (CC BY 3.0)

Famous One Direction singer Liam Payne died after falling off a hotel balcony in Argentina on Wednesday October 16, 2024. Authorities say he was under the influence of drugs and alcohol. 

Payne was known as one of the members of the band One Direction. The band consisted of members Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik, and Payne himself. 

Payne’s death this was said to be an accident at first but, according to Entertainment Weekly, a Buenos Aires official stated he jumped. Prior to his death, hotel employees reports he was under the influence of all different types of drugs and alcohol. People stated that Payne had been very vocal about his struggles with mental health and substance abuse prior to his death.

Multiple outlets reports that minutes before his death there was a call from the hotel manager to the police regarding Payne. The hotel manager can be heard on a call, released by the Associated Press, saying the guest was destroying the entire room, and then minutes later, when the police arrived, Payne was already gone. AP reported, “Hotel staff at the Casa Sur Hotel in the chic Palermo neighborhood of Argentina’s capital where Payne was staying called the police Wednesday evening with concerns about a guest who they say was overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol.” It is still unclear if the fall was an accident or on purpose.

On Thursday October 17, Horan, Styles, Tomlinson, and Malik made a post about Payne’s death on the 1D Instagram account, which has not been active in many years. 

1D band members, including Payne, have had success since the shocking split in 2016.