Liam Payne death latest: Police call before 1D star’s fall from balcony released

The singer died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Argentina, officials said on Wednesday 16 October. Pablo Policicchio, the spokesperson for the Security Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, said in a statement to the Associated Press that police were dispatched to the hotel in response to an emergency call about an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.

Born in Wolverhampton, England, Payne was drawn to singers such as Usher and Justin Timberlake. He remembered his childhood as a happy one: his father, Geoff, worked as a fitter, while his mother, Karen, was a nursery nurse.

“It was great, though we didn’t have much,” he told The Telegraph in a 2017 interview. “Dad was in debt, but they did the best they could. It makes you dream a bit, you know?”

Greg Horan, the older brother of One Direction’s Niall, has shared a tribute to Payne.

Writing in a post on Instagram, Greg said he was “heartbroken” by the news, and that Payne was “only one of four lads I was happy enough to take my place in Niall’s life as a brother”.

“You will be forever missed Liam words can’t describe how much I want to grab my brother and mind him now while the world shows their memories of you and him and the boys,” he said, calling Payne a “top young boy to a man, a son, a brother”.

“My heart goes out to your family parents and sisters and your son Bear and your 1D brothers. 10th October we met and we started out that evening as five families into one big 1D family. Thank you for all the laughs bro watch down on all your family and mind them. Lots of love kiddo x x x 1D 4 LIFE.”

In the days before his death, Liam Payne’s girlfriend of two years, 25-year-old influencer Kate Cassidy, had joined him on his trip to Argentina. The pair had been documenting their trip together on social media.

Cassidy had been on the trip with Payne for two weeks before she decided to return home to her Florida home.

In a vlog posted on her TikTok account two days before Payne’s death, Cassidy said she was “so ready to leave” Buenos Aires after their five day trip had turned into a two week long holiday.

“Words can not express the emotions we are collectively feeling right now, and it seems like the rest of the world is in the same boat,” a statement from the official Backstreet Boys account on X/Twitter said.

“Our hearts go out to Liam’s family, friends, and Directioners around the world. Rest in peace brother.”

Simon Cowell has cancelled auditions set to take place in Blackpool for a new series of Britain’s Got Talent.

“Due to the tragic passing of Liam Payne, BGT has decided to postpone today’s auditions in Blackpool,” a statement from Applause Store, which organises tickets for fans who want to watch filming, said.

“We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”

“This is a really hard one to take in,” Scott Mills wrote on X/Twitter. “Never in a million years would I think we would have to see goodbye to you so soon Liam.We had so much fun back then, and I feel so incredibly sad.

“Sending my love and strength to his family, his friends, and especially his son.”

Local authorities are now investigating the singer’s death, with an autopsy due to be carried out.

Liam Payne referred to the time he spent in One Direction as “like uni”, but would later open up about his experiences of burnout and claustrophobia: “Cabin fever,” he told The Telegraph. “It sent me a bit AWOL at one point, if I’m honest. I can remember when there were 10,000 people outside our hotel. We couldn’t go anywhere. It was just gig to hotel, gig to hotel. And you couldn’t sleep, because they’d still be outside.”

He said his exasperation with fame came to a head in New York in 2012 when he was walking to a restaurant with his parents, and a photographer accidentally pushed his mum down. “I was like, ‘Oh, f*** this. F*** this s***,’” he recalled. “There was a swarm of them and I just wanted a burger with my parents. I cried my eyes out. I thought, ‘I can’t do this,’ and really hated my life.”

Malik announced in 2015 that he was leaving the band; One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus just months later. “It was a little bit dark and twisted towards the end of it,” Payne told The Guardian of the band’s split. “But the last few shows were really beautiful moments because the pressure cooker had been let off.

“It was almost like counting down to holiday… we were going to wake up that Monday morning with no schedule.” Payne was in therapy for two years after 1D split: “It was difficult at the start, because I didn’t really know anything about myself. It was a bit of a numb feeling.”

“A lot of what I said came from the wrong place,” he said in a video shared to his YouTube channel. “I was so angry at what was going on around me and instead of taking a look inwards I decided to look outwards at everybody else, and I just think, yeah, I took it out on everybody else, which is just wrong, really.”

Despite regretting his remarks, he said the podcast interview helped him get “more of a grip on life and everything that was getting away from me”. He celebrated 100 days of sobriety in May 2023.