“It’s important you don’t bottle up how you feel,” Liam Payne wrote via Instagram in July 2023. “Feeling is one of the most amazing gifts we have, and I blocked things up so long it made me sick and lash out.”
A little over a year after those poignant words, the former One Direction star passed away at age 31. It’s a devastating ending for the singer, who had spent half his life in the spotlight, first auditioning for The X Factor UK in 2008, when he was just 14. At the time Us went to press, details were still emerging about the exact circumstances that led to the British star’s tragic death after he fell from his third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, around 5 p.m. local time.
On the surface, Payne appeared to be enjoying his break, dancing at his former bandmate Niall Horan’s concert in the Argentinian capital on October 2 and chilling with his American girlfriend of two years, influencer Kate Cassidy. In the background, reports on social media and in the press told a different story. On October 14, two days after Cassidy flew back to the States, Payne’s ex-fiancée, model Maya Henry, issued a cease and desist order to stop the star from contacting her and her family. She also spoke out about their relationship, alleging abuse and, eerily, saying that Payne had often told her he thought he was going to die, which she found manipulative.
A source tells Us Payne had seemed “fine a few days prior” but was “acting erratic” on the day of this death. According to reports from Buenos Aires, a hotel employee presumed Payne was “drunk on drugs and alcohol” and was trashing property around the hotel in the minutes before his death. According to Reuters, the prosecutor’s office found substances inside his room that “appeared to be narcotics and alcoholic beverages, as well as several destroyed objects and furniture.” The autopsy said there were no signs of a third party involved in Payne’s death, though the incident was being investigated as “suspicious” out of protocol.
In the hours following Payne’s death, fans gathered outside the CasaSur Palermo Hotel to pay tribute to the singer. “[He] was my adolescence,” Jazmin Fernandez, 19, told Us. “He transmitted everything with his music and he was the best.” Tiziana, 18, brought a letter to leave at the site, telling Us through tears, “I want to leave a few words [for] the years we spent together.”
Police sources told Us that it’s unknown whether Payne jumped or suffered an accidental fall from the balcony. Payne was left with “serious injuries” that were untreatable by the time first responders arrived at the hotel, according to Buenos Aires emergency services chief Alberto Crescenti. ABC News later reported that Payne had “pink cocaine” — a recreational drug mixing together methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — in his system, along with cocaine, benzodiazepine and crack, and that an aluminum pipe was found in Payne’s hotel room.
A Bright Beginning
Away from the headlines and social media discourse, Payne wasn’t just a pop star; he was also a much-loved father, son and brother. Payne spoke regularly about his bond with 7-year-old son Bear, whom he shared with ex Cheryl Cole, telling cute anecdotes about their time together.
Payne put pressure on himself to be the perfect dad because his own childhood was so happy and stable. Born in Wolverhampton, England, on August 29, 1993, to dad Geoff, a fitter at an aerospace company, and mom Karen, a nurse, Payne had two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola, and the family was close up until his death, often struggling with the physical distance that resulted from the singer’s jet-setting lifestyle. His mom even kept a cardboard cutout of her son at the family home. “We miss him,” she said in the 2013 One Direction movie, This Is Us. “He left home my little boy, and became the boy in a magazine.”
As a baby, Payne had kidney problems, which continued to flare up in the last years of his life, causing him to cancel his South American tour dates in 2023 — and also meant that his parents had always been extra protective of him. “My parents are overly supportive to the point that it’s annoying at times,” he once laughed, “and they don’t mind me saying that.”
True to form, when Payne first auditioned for X Factor in 2008 — but ultimately didn’t make it to the final stages of the show — they were right beside him, confident in their young son’s talents. It wasn’t until 2010 that he truly impressed the judges when he returned for a second stab at fame, nailing Michael Bublé’s jazz version of “Cry Me a River” to a panel that included his future love Cole, who told him, “You look a little bit like Justin Bieber.” Simon Cowell heaped praise on the teen, calling out his impressive voice, charisma and confidence.
As Payne progressed through the stages of the show, he formed a close bond with a few other young male singers — and ultimately, Cowell opted to form a boy band with Payne, plus Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. One Direction was born and, while they only came in third in the talent show, they were by far its greatest success story, selling over 200 million records worldwide and winning dozens of awards.
On October 17, the remaining former band members released a joint statement to address Payne’s sudden death, saying in part: “We will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends, and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”
Highs and Lows
During their heyday, the band looked like they were having the time of their lives, but there was often tension — and Payne, who was regarded as the sensible, mature one in the group, was often called on to mediate. “I was like, that’s great, because then everyone in the band thinks I’m a d–k,” he said in 2019. “We’ve got plates being thrown out the window, mattresses being ridden down the stairs, and I’m getting calls from the manager saying: ‘You need to sort it out.’”
In the end, he grew tired of being the self-described “boring one” and decided to let loose. “The more fun we had, the more successful it got,” he said. But when Malik quit in 2015, it was the beginning of the end. In 2016, they went on an “indefinite hiatus,” and Payne struggled more than most. “It was a little bit dark and twisted towards the end of it,” he recalled. Payne took six months off and had a lot of therapy as he adjusted to life outside 1D. “It was difficult at the start because I didn’t really know anything about myself,” he admitted. “It was a bit of a numb feeling.”
It wasn’t long before he reconnected and settled down with Cole, the fellow pop star he’d winked at on X Factor all those years ago. The pair split in summer 2018, when Bear was just over 12 months old. Although Payne was by now battling with drugs, alcohol and his mental health, he managed to form a solid coparenting relationship with Cole, who praised him as “the only man who has ever been faithful” and credited him with bringing her the man of her dreams: their son.
While he attempted to launch a solo career, the lack of stability in his personal life jeopardized his success. His only studio album, 2019’s LP1, was met with largely mediocre reviews, and Payne opened up about his demons in a documentary that same year. “There’s times where that level of loneliness and people getting into you every day every so often … that’s almost nearly killed me a couple of times,” he confessed. “Luckily, I had great people around me. When things start to pile up on you, it can get you, and you can only control you. You have to get on with it.”
In 2021, Payne revealed that he’d even thought about suicide. “I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be,” he said on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast. “Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it. No one would ever have seen it.”
Sad Farewell
Last year, much to the relief of his many loved ones, Payne announced that he was sober following a 100-day treatment program for his self-confessed “pills and booze phase,” talking candidly about his mental health battles and the work he had done to get better. Speaking via his official YouTube channel in July 2023, he said, “I mentioned I’d been diagnosed with a couple of conditions, and I will not go into too much detail, but one of them I have is, there’s a lot of manic things in my life which you guys saw.” He also thanked Cole and Bear for giving him the time and space to recover.
Whatever was really going on behind the scenes in Payne’s seemingly complicated personal life, his death at such a young age is utterly devastating for his millions of fans, the friends he leaves behind and, especially, for the tight-knit family who had proudly watched him grow up from a vulnerable baby to one of the biggest pop stars on the planet. “Liam will forever live in our hearts, and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” they said in an official statement on October 17. “We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time.”
Cassidy, meanwhile, broke her silence on Payne’s death via social media on October 18. “Thank you for all the kind words and love that has been sent my way,” she wrote. “I have been at a complete loss. Nothing about the past few days have felt real. I ask and pray that you give me the grace and space to navigate this in private.” She referred to Payne as her “angel,” adding, “You are everything. I want you to know I loved you unconditionally and completely. I will continue to love you for the rest of my life. I love you Liam.”
Additional writing by Leanne Aciz Stanton / With reporting by Luciana Arias, Julia Tortoriello & Amanda Williams
