By Cynthia Charlene Greason

FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS

Liam James Payne (29 August 1993 – 16 October 2024) was an English singer who rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Payne made his debut as a singer in 2008 when he auditioned for the British television series The X Factor. After being eliminated in the competition, he auditioned again in 2010 and was put into a group with four other boys to form One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. Payne worked with other producers under the monikers “Big Payno” and “Payno”, creating remixes for songs by his group and Cheryl.^[3]

One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group is composed of Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik (until 2015), and Liam Payne. They became one of the best-selling boy groups of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

After One Direction’s hiatus, Payne signed a recording deal with Republic Records in North America. In May 2017, Payne released “Strip That Down” as the lead single from his debut album. It peaked at number three on the UK Singles Chart and number ten on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100, being certified platinum in both countries. His debut album, LP1, was released in December 2019. He sold over 18 million singles in under three years after One Direction’s hiatus, and accumulated over 3.9 billion career streams in that span.

Payne died on 16 October 2024at age 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in the neighbourhood of Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the age of 31. Argentine media reported that he was in Argentina to attend former bandmate Niall Horan‘s concert. Police were called to the hotel after an emergency call citing “an aggressive man who could be under the effects of drugs and alcohol”. Payne was deceased when emergency services arrived.

Alberto Crescenti, director of the Buenos Aires city public emergency medical service, announced Payne’s death on the Argentine television channel Todo Noticias. He did not answer questions, including whether the death was a suicide or accident. Authorities are investigating Payne’s death and conducting a post-mortem.