Key events
Singer Olly Murs, who starred on The X Factor a year before One Direction, said he was “lost for words”, describing Payne’s death as “devastating” on Instagram.
“We always had a good laugh when we saw each other, sometimes the catch ups were only short and sweet but when we did it was mostly about how annoyingly good his hair always looked, or our love for Becks, the old XF (X Factor) days and the tour we shared together,” Murs wrote beside a picture of the pair.
“Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family and of course his son Bear losing a dad.”
A life in pictures.
A life in pictures – see here:
After One Direction, Liam Payne was just getting started,writes Alexis Petridis.
If a quarter of a century of reality TV talent shows has taught us anything, it’s that success in them is seldom a guarantee of lasting fame: more often than not, the celebrity is fleeting, and confined to the country of the show’s origin.
You might have predicted that outcome for One Direction. Simon Cowell claimed to have thrown the band together “in 10 minutes” from solo contestants who had failed to progress any further than the bootcamp stage of the 2010 UK X Factor – despite the fact that one of them, the Wolverhampton-born Liam Payne, had at one stage been tipped to win the series for his initial audition: a version of the old standard Cry Me A River. One Direction ended the series as runners-up, and that, you could have assumed, was that – after all, the stock of the boyband was hopelessly low at the time.
But things didn’t work out that way at all. One Direction ended up being one of the definitive pop bands of their era, shifting 70m records, and becoming the first band in the history of the US Billboard chart to see their first four albums debut at No 1. On the most basic level, they were successful because they were talented, charismatic and good looking and, more importantly, because a little more effort seemed to go into their singles from the off. Their debut, What Makes You Beautiful, was infernally catchy; it addressed their female fans with a charming positivity and was rooted in a glossy take on powerpop rather the standard boyband approach of ballad or pop-R&B. “When we heard it,” Payne noted, “it wasn’t what we expected … so it kind of fitted perfectly.”
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Here is a link to the Guardian’s story on Liam Payne’s death.
TV presenter Dermot O’Leary has recalled Liam Payne auditioning for The X Factor as a 14-year-old boy, as he paid tribute to the singer following his death.
O’Leary, who hosted The X Factor during both of Payne’s appearances, shared a photograph of the pair on stage, captioning the Instagram post: “The worst news”.
He wrote:
I remember him as a 14-year-old turning up to audition on The X Factor, and blowing us away singing Sinatra. He just loved to sing.
He was always a joy, had time for everyone, polite, grateful, and was always humble.
Payne had been visiting Argentina along with his former bandmate Niall Horan, who performed at the city’s Movistar Arena on 2 October. Payne was seen dancing and singing along with Horan’s fans at the concert.
Hundreds of fans gathered outside the hotel on Wednesday evening, where police sectioned off the entrance with tape.
A quiet disbelief hung over the street. Supporters stood in shock, many of them in tears as they consoled one another. Others stared up at the hotel, of which all the curtains were closed.
“I’m feeling heartbroken. I remember when I was a kid I had a lot of bullying in my school and his songs helped. I’m devastated. I came as soon as I heard the news,” said 26-year-old fan Martina Belaustgui. “I saw him at Niall’s show a few weeks ago. He was singing and dancing and jumping.”
“I met him when I was 12. He was with his family and I asked for a picture. He was so nice. I was so shy, he tried to talk to me but I couldn’t say anything. I regret that,” said 25-year-old fan Mariana Pinto.
Liam Payne, former member of One Direction, dies aged 31
Liam Payne, a former member of the boyband One Direction, has died aged 31 after falling from a third-floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, police have confirmed.
The singer died on Wednesday at 5pm local time.
“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,” Buenos Aires police said in a statement.
Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, told Argentina’s Todo Noticias TV channel that Payne had fallen into an internal courtyard at the hotel.
Candles, tears and applause in Buenos Aires as One Direction fans say farewell to Liam Payne
“A few minutes later [an] emergency team arrived and confirmed the death of this man who we later learned was from a musical group. He had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall. There was no way to do anything,” Crescenti said.
Crescenti said authorities were investigating the circumstances of Payne’s death and conducting an autopsy.
In a statement on Wednesday, the police said they had gone to the hotel after being notified of an “aggressive man who could be under the effects of drugs and alcohol”, according to Reuters. The hotel manager said he heard a loud noise at the back of the hotel, and when police arrived they found that a man had fallen over the balcony in his room, the statement said.