The world music scene has been in shock since the early hours of today, Thursday, following the news of the death of Liam Payne from One Direction, who died after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
So far, the circumstances under which the 31-year-old singer found himself in the void are unclear, with testimonies, however, published by international media that speak of his strange behavior shortly before the tragic incident.
As TMZ reports, Payne was "behaving strangely" in the hotel lobby. The publication also reports that the singer had broken his laptop and had been dragged to his room.
For its part, the New York Post reports, citing a source who knew the former member of One Direction, that Payne spent the last years of his life in crisis. "Liam has been in cycles of self-destructive behavior for a long time," the source told the US outlet. "He used to talk openly about his problems but tried to downplay them. His demons were much worse than he let on."
The last video
An hour before the news of his death became known, Payne had posted on social media a video of his trip to Buenos Aires with his friend and influencer Kate Cassidy.
In the video, which was however taken days ago as Cassidy had left Argentina two 24 hours before the tragic incident, the 31-year-old singer could be heard saying "a beautiful day in Argentina" while his partner enjoyed their breakfast.
“This is a breakfast table. We're just enjoying coffee and breakfast even though it's 1 in the afternoon,” Payne added.
Payne's last Snapchat post was of him posing in front of a mirror with his partner, both wearing swimwear.
According to Argentina's La Nación newspaper, before the incident, Hotel Casa Sur staff called the police to report "an aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol."
“We were alerted to a person who was in an internal courtyard of the Casa Sur hotel. First responders arrived and confirmed the man's death. Later we found out that he was a singer in a music band. Unfortunately, he had fatal injuries as a result of his fall, so we had to confirm his death. There was no possibility of resuscitation," local authorities said in a statement.
"Liam James Payne, songwriter and guitarist, former member of the band One Direction, died today after falling from the third floor of a hotel" in the Palermo district of Buenos Aires, the police said in a statement.
The police were called to the CasaSur hotel at 17:04 (local time, 23:04 Greek time). An ambulance arrived seven minutes later, but paramedics only pronounced Payne dead.
According to Argentine media, Payne was in Buenos Aires to attend the concert of Niall Horan, with whom he was in One Direction.
The 31-year-old singer was best known as a member of the famous British boy band One Direction. The group, which also features Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, first formed in 2010 after each member appeared on the UK version of the reality competition 'The X Factor'.
One Direction announced their breakup in 2015. Payne later released his debut solo album in 2019 titled 'LP1'. In March, Payne released "Teardrops."
The British singer shared a YouTube video in 2023 in which he revealed he had been sober for six months after spending nearly 100 days in a Louisiana rehab facility.
The 31-year-old singer had a son in 2017 with former Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole.
Source: protothema.gr
