Former One direction singer Liam Payne dies in hotel balcony fall

Liam Payne, the former member of One Direction, has died aged 31 in Argentina after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, police say.

In a statement, police said they were dispatched to the hotel after an emergency call in which they were “informed of an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol”.

When they arrived the officer in charge said he heard a loud sound in the inner courtyard of the hotel. Officials said they found a man who had “thrown himself from the balcony of his room”.

Earlier this month, Payne had attended the Argentina concert of his former One Direction bandmate Niall Horan.

Payne was part of the much-loved boyband, along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.

He first tried for stardom when he auditioned for ITV talent show The X Factor in 2008 – but judge Simon Cowell told him to “come back in two years”.

He did, impressing the judges more in 2010, and was put together with four other solo hopefuls at the boot camp stage and One Direction were born.

They group had four UK number one albums and four number ones singles as well as topping charts around the world, before announcing they were going on a hiatus in 2015.

In 2017, Payne’s debut solo single Strip That Down which peaked at number three on the Official UK Chart, and his collaboration with Rita Ora on the song For You – from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack – also reached the top 10.

He married Girls Aloud star Cheryl Cole in 2016 and they had a son, Bear, the following year. The couple split in 2018.

In recent weeks, claims had circulated on social media about his behaviour towards other former partners, with one reported on Tuesday to have taken legal action to stop him contacting her friends and family.