Former One Direction member Liam Payne died of multiple traumas and “internal and external haemorrhage," as a result of a fall from the balcony of a hotel’s third-floor, a post-mortem examination report has said.
A press release from Argentina’s National Criminal and Correctional Prosecutor’s Office No 16 said it would be investigating the incident as an “inconclusive death” after the conclusions of the report.
Payne’s family told the PA news agency in a statement, issued via a spokeswoman, that they were “heartbroken” and added: “Liam will forever live in our hearts, and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”
The prosecutor’s office said five witnesses were questioned in order to reconstruct what happened on October 16th at the CasaSur Hotel in the Palermo area of Buenos Aires.
Reports say staff at the hotel made two calls to emergency services, with audio revealing a staff member had asked for assistance for a guest who was “intoxicated by drugs and alcohol”.
Police officers and the emergency services found Payne dead at the scene and his body was transferred to the judicial morgue.
The prosecutor’s office indicated the musician was alone when the fall occurred and said he appeared to be “going through some kind of outbreak due to substance abuse”.
Forensic experts said no injuries were observed that would suggest the intervention of third parties, although “the investigation is also aimed at determining the possible intervention of third parties in the events prior to his death”.
Police in the Argentine capital previously said the music star’s hotel room had been “in complete disarray” with “various items broken”.
They added that a whiskey bottle, lighter and mobile phone had been retrieved from the internal hotel courtyard where Payne’s body was found.
Tributes have been paid to the singer after his death at the age of 31, with pictures showing shocked fans gathering outside the hotel after police cordoned off the area, with forensic investigators in white protective suits and blue gloves seen entering and leaving.
Fans were photographed lighting candles and leaving flowers at the side of the road in an impromptu vigil as they paid tribute to the music star.
We are heartbroken by the sad passing of Liam Payne.
He was immensely talented and, as part of One Direction, Liam will leave a lasting legacy on the music industry and fans around the world.
Our thoughts are with his friends, family and all who loved him. pic.twitter.com/wOXUTKPUiR— The X Factor (@TheXFactor) October 17, 2024
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Former X Factor contestants have paid tribute to Payne, with Cher Lloyd, who appeared on the ITV programme in the same year, writing on Instagram that she will “cherish the memories made and the laughs we had”.
A post from the official X Factor account on X, formerly Twitter, described Payne as “immensely talented”, while the show’s former host Dermot O’Leary told ITV’s This Morning the singer was “kind of both wise and sort of a young soul at exactly the same time”.
One Direction was formed in 2010, with Payne, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles, after they individually auditioned for The X Factor.
After becoming one of the biggest pop groups in the world, with five albums and four world tours, they went on indefinite hiatus in 2016.
Payne, who was born in Wolverhampton, released his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, which included the songs Polaroid, Familiar and Strip That Down featuring Quavo.
The song was one of two tracks that reached the top 10 in the UK official charts, alongside For You with Rita Ora from the film Fifty Shades Freed – which the duo performed at the Brit Awards in 2018.
Payne was in a high-profile relationship with Girls Aloud singer Cheryl between 2016 and 2018, and the couple had a son, Bear, in 2017.
The singer previously said he struggled with alcoholism at the peak of his success with One Direction, describing hitting “rock bottom” to The Diary Of A CEO podcast host Steven Bartlett.
He admitted his addiction to alcohol continued during the Covid pandemic, but in 2023 he posted a YouTube video confirming he was almost six months sober after nearly 100 days in a US rehab facility.
