Liam Payne, the English singer who rose to fame as a member of boy band One Direction, has died. Payne was found dead in Buenos Aires, Argentina, after falling from the third floor of a hotel in the Argentine capital. He was 31.
Local news outlets La Nacion and Clarin reported that police were responding to an emergency call that cited "an aggressive man who could be under the effects of drugs and alcohol" at the hotel [via Reuters].
Payne first appeared on British music competition show The X Factor in 2008, and would later return to the show in 2010 as a member of the newly-formed One Direction.
The group — which saw Payne line up alongside Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson — would become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. One Direction would go on indefinite hiatus in 2016, with its members pursuing solo careers.
Payne would share his debut solo album LP1 in 2019, and had revealed last year he was at work on a sophomore effort. The album's lead single "Teardrops" was released in March.