Liam Payne, seen right here on the 2023 premiere of the movie All of These Voices, a documentary about his One Path band mate Louis Tomlinson.
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Kate Inexperienced/Getty Pictures
Liam Payne, a singer who rose to fame as a member of the chart-topping boy band One Path, has died whereas in Buenos Aires, in accordance with a number of information businesses. He was 31.
The Related Press obtained a press release from Buenos Aires police saying that Payne fell from the third story window of Casa Sur Lodge within the Palermo neighborhood of the Argentine capital. Pablo Policicchio, the spokesperson for the Safety Ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, offered the Related Press with a press release saying police had been dispatched after receiving an emergency name about an “aggressive man who could possibly be underneath the affect of medicine or alcohol” and located Payne’s physique within the resort courtyard.
AP studies that officers are nonetheless investigating the occasions that led to Payne’s loss of life. NPR reached out to representatives for Payne however has not obtained a response.
Throughout 5 albums launched within the 2010s, One Path turned a world phenomenon. Sustained by singles like “Dwell Whereas We’re Younger” and “Finest Tune Ever,” the quintet charted a course from actuality present runners-up to full-on teen fixation.
Payne was born in 1993 in Wolverhampton, England. He first auditioned for The X Issue UK in 2008 however was not chosen to maneuver ahead by choose Simon Cowell. He returned in 2010.
“I do suppose Simon did the suitable factor and I wasn’t prepared,” he stated as he launched himself to the judges onstage. “Now I’m 16, and I’m again and I’m prepared to present it one other shot.”
He then launched into a canopy of Michael Buble’s rendition of “Cry Me A River.” His second try at coming into the fact TV contest earned him roaring applause, however Payne was nearly eradicated in subsequent rounds. As a substitute of being despatched house, he was chosen to type a bunch with 4 different boys who additionally wouldn’t be transferring ahead in solo classes: Niall Horan, Harry Kinds, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. Kinds urged a reputation and it caught.
On the flip of the millennium, the boy band stood on the middle of the pop zeitgeist, however a decade later, when Payne and his bandmates emerged from the fact competitors, the format had misplaced a lot of its luster. One Path caught on nearly instantly within the U.Okay. and the U.S., with the group’s basic rock-influenced debut single “What Makes You Lovely,” respiration new life into mannequin.
With 2014’s 4, the boy band made historical past as the primary group to have its first 4 albums — all launched between 2012 and 2014 — go to No. 1 on the Billboard 200. In 2014 additionally they had the best grossing tour of the yr, which turned one of many highest grossing exhibits of all-time. The band amassed a faithful following throughout its run and helped to open the door for different worldwide acts that will comply with, like BTS.
After Malik left the group in 2015, One Path launched one ultimate album, Made within the A.M., as a quartet earlier than occurring an indefinite hiatus in 2016. When the group later received the Video of the Yr award on the 2017 Brit Awards for his or her tune “Historical past,” Payne was the one member in attendance. Standing alongside Cowell he stated, “The sheer devotion that our followers have proven on-line for that is completely superb. We’ve been taking a little bit of time engaged on our solo materials, however One Path is who we’re and it’s who we at all times can be.”
Because the members cut up off to pursue solo careers, Payne was the third to make his debut: The album, LP1, was launched in 2019 and spawned a handful of fashionable singles, together with “Strip That Down” with the Migos frontman Quavo and “For You” with English singer Rita Ora. It was his solely album; in 2023, Payne revealed to Rolling Stone that he was engaged on a follow-up, and he launched the one, “Teardrops” in March.
In a video posted to his YouTube web page in 2023, Payne opened up about his wrestle with alcoholism and his sobriety and detailed his determination to affix a remedy program in Louisiana, the place he spent a number of months. “Ever since then, I’ve simply been attempting to get to know this new man,” he stated, signaling himself.
Payne is survived by a 7-year-old son, his mother and father and two sisters.
Sheldon Pearce contributed reporting to this story.
