Tag: liam payne

  • One Direction stars attend Liam Payne’s funeral in UK

    One Direction stars attend Liam Payne’s funeral in UK

    Family and friends of One Direction star Liam Payne, who died last month after falling from a Buenos Aires hotel room, gathered for his funeral in Britain on Wednesday.

    Payne’s former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson were among the dozens of mourners at the private service at St Mary’s Church in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, just outside London.

    Payne’s tearful parents were joined by his two sisters, his girlfriend Kate Cassidy and former partner Cheryl Tweedy, with whom he has a son.

    Around a dozen fans watched from behind a nearby cordon as guests hugged each other before walking past floral tributes into the 12th-century church to pay their final respects.

    “Because his death was such a public death, to have the funeral in a private way… I think it was very nice,” said onlooker Sheila Morris, a 65-year-old from Amersham.

    “It’s a beautiful church… it’s a very beautiful place for a funeral,” she said.

    Payne’s coffin arrived in a white horse-drawn hearse topped with floral tributes spelling the words “Son” and “Daddy”, followed by his parents.

    Payne was found dead on October 16 after falling from the balcony of his third-floor room at the Casa Sur Hotel in the Argentinian capital.

    His death, at 31, prompted a global outpouring of grief from family, former bandmates and fans, with thousands gathering in cities around the world to offer condolences.

    – ‘Completely devastated’ –

    Payne shot to stardom as a teenager alongside Styles, Horan, Tomlinson and Malik after their appearance on the UK talent show “The X Factor” 14 years ago.

    He died from “multiple traumas” and “internal and external haemorrhaging” after the fall from the hotel room, a post-mortem examination found.

    The balcony attached to his room overlooked a rear patio that was about 14 meters (45 feet) high.

    Hotel staff had called emergency services twice to report a guest “overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” who was “destroying” a hotel room.

    Investigators have said he was alone at the time and appeared to have been “going through an episode of substance abuse”.

    In a short statement following his death, Payne’s family said: “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul.”

    One Direction said they had been “completely devastated” by his death.

    After forming in 2010, the band went on to release an album of radio-ready songs each year in time for the holiday shopping season and became one of the highest-grossing live acts in the world. 

    In 2016, after Malik left, the group said it was on an indefinite hiatus but not splitting up.

    Payne’s first solo single “Strip That Down” peaked at number three on the UK charts and number 10 on the US Billboard top songs list.

    But in recent years he had spoken publicly about struggles with substance abuse and coping with fame from an early age.

    His last solo work, the single “Teardrops”, was released in March, with a second album announced at the time.

    Payne was born and raised in Wolverhampton, central England.

  • One Direction star took cocaine, alcohol, antidepressant before death

    One Direction star took cocaine, alcohol, antidepressant before death

    One Direction star Liam Payne consumed cocaine, alcohol and a prescription antidepressant before falling to his death from a Buenos Aires hotel balcony last month, Argentine prosecutors said Thursday.

    The prosecutor’s office added that three people were charged with supplying him with drugs and one of them was also charged with abandoning a person in a vulnerable state.

    “The results of the toxicological studies, which have been communicated to his family, revealed that, in the moments prior to his death and over a period covering at least his last 72 hours, Payne had traces of polydrug use of alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his body,” the prosecutors said.

    Payne was found dead on October 16 after plunging from the balcony of his third-floor room at the CasaSur Hotel in the Argentine capital.

    An autopsy found he died after sustaining “multiple traumas” and “internal and external hemorrhaging” from the fall.

    One of the highest-grossing live acts in the world in the 2010s, One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016.

    Payne went on to enjoy a degree of solo success but his career had languished recently.

    His death at age 31 prompted a global outpouring of grief and condolences from family, former bandmates, fans and others.

    – Three charged with drugs supply –

    Prosecutors said one of the three people charged in the case had accompanied him on a daily basis during his stay in Buenos Aires and was charged with abandoning a person who later died as well as supplying him with narcotics.

    The second suspect is a hotel employee accused of twice supplying Payne with cocaine while he was staying at the CasaSur. A third person is also accused of supplying him with the drug on October 14, two days before his death.

    The prosecution ruled out self-harm and the “physical intervention of third parties” as the cause of Payne’s death, saying that the injuries he sustained were compatible with those caused by a fall.

    “Payne was either not fully conscious or was in a state of markedly diminished or absent consciousness at the time of the fall,” the report said.

    He was found dead after hotel staff called emergency services to report “a guest who is overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol, and destroying his room.”

    – Body flown home –

    The toxicological report was published a day after the singer’s father Geoff Payne repatriated his body to Britain aboard a flight from Buenos Aires to London.

    Payne’s death has prompted a debate about whether the music industry has a duty of care for the mental health of stars who find fame at a young age.

    The singer from Wolverhampton in central England had spoken publicly about struggles with substance abuse and the pressures of teenage stardom.

    He first auditioned for the hugely popular television talent show “The X Factor” at the age of 14 but was unsuccessful.

    Two years later he hit gold on the program, which teamed him up with Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik to form One Direction.

    Over the next six years, the group enjoyed global fame and legions of screaming fans, selling more than 70 million copies of their five albums. They went on four world tours and won nearly 200 awards.

    Payne is survived by a seven-year-old boy, Bear, with Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy.

  • Argentine police raid hotel where Liam Payne fell to death

    Argentine police raid hotel where Liam Payne fell to death

    Argentine police raided on Wednesday the Buenos Aires hotel where former One Direction star Liam Payne died after falling from his third-floor balcony, a police source told AFP.

    Police officers from the special investigations and technology divisions were sent to the Casa Sur Hotel by the prosecutor’s office “to seize elements of interest for the investigation,” said a police source who asked not to be identified.

    Television images showed a handful of agents working on computers at the lobby counter.

    The 31-year-old British pop singer was found dead after staff called emergency services twice to report a guest “overwhelmed by drugs and alcohol” was “destroying” a hotel room.

    He had spoken publicly about struggles with substance abuse and coping with fame from an early age.

    Wednesday’s raid came a day after the Argentine prosecutor’s office met with the musician’s father, Geoff Payne, and assured him that his son’s toxicology studies had not been released by that institution.

    US media reported on Monday that Payne had a cocktail of drugs in his system when he died.

    ABC and TMZ said “pink cocaine” — containing methamphetamine, ketamine and MDMA — had been found during a partial autopsy, citing anonymous sources familiar with the preliminary tests.

    The prosecutor’s office said it had not “disclosed any specific technical report outside the exclusive framework of the investigation and the judicial process corresponding to the case.”

    Although there is no stipulated deadline for the results of the toxicological analyses, an official from the Public Prosecutor’s Office told AFP that they could be concluded this week.

    Investigators were examining cell phones, computers, photographs and videos from security cameras, and have taken “numerous witness statements to reconstruct the victim’s final hours and the scene of the events,” the public prosecutor’s office said.

    Post-mortem results indicated that the 31-year-old was alone at the time of the fall and “was going through an episode of substance abuse,” prosecutors have said.

    One of the highest-grossing live acts in the world, One Direction went on indefinite hiatus in 2016. Payne went on to enjoy solo success.

  • Fans gather to mourn Liam Payne’s death at UK and other vigils 

    Fans gather to mourn Liam Payne’s death at UK and other vigils 

    Fans mourning Liam Payne’s death turned out across Britain and beyond at organised vigils Sunday, with at least 1,000 gathering in central London to pay tribute to the former One Direction star.

    It came four days after Payne died aged 31 following a fall from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room, prompting an outpouring of grief and condolences from family, former bandmates, fans and others.

    Investigators have said he appeared to have been “going through an episode of substance abuse”.

    Those at the London memorial at the Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park were encouraged in social media posts to bring “flowers, letters, balloons, pictures” and did not disappoint.

    Gathering in the rain under umbrellas bearing those things and more, the crowd of mainly young people sang One Direction songs after also standing in silence for periods.

    “He was such a big part of our childhood — we just came to pay our respect,” student Katie Etchells, 20, wearing a One Direction t-shirt, told AFP.

    She was one of many who said that they at first thought word of his death was “fake news”, calling the realisation it was true “very upsetting”.

    “I think he’ll be happy to know that so many people does love him,” a tearful Luna Franco, 20, from Italy, told AFP.

    – ‘Unify’ – –

    Musician Shukhrat Turdikhodjaev, 21, said he had gone from “disbelief at first” to shock on hearing Payne had died.

    He added the turnout showed that the singer “was able to connect and unify so many different people”.

    Elsewhere, news reports and social media posts showed hundreds also gathered in the Scottish cities Edinburgh and Glasgow, as well as Paris, New York, Stockholm and many other places.

    Fans were also set to gather later Sunday in Birmingham in central England — near Wolverhampton where Payne was born and raised.

    He would shoot to fame around the world as a teenager in the hugely successful pop group One Direction, which formed in 2010 after its members appeared on “The X Factor”.

    Sunday’s meet-ups mirror gatherings seen across Latin American in recent days.

    In Buenos Aires, tearful fans have continued to mass in front of the Casa Sur Hotel, where Payne plunged to his death and an altar dedicated to him has been created full of flowers and messages.

    On Friday, his father Geoff Payne visited the scene, thanking fans gathered there in a shared moment of grief.

    Meanwhile Mexico City, the Ecuadorian capital Quito and various towns and cities in Colombia are among the other places to have seen impromptu ceremonies for Payne.

    – ‘Just really sad’ –

    Anguished reactions have continued to stream in, including from Girls Aloud star Cheryl Tweedy, Payne’s former partner and the mother of their seven-year-old boy, who called his death an “earth shattering event”.

    Payne’s One Direction bandmate Zayn Malik said Saturday on X that he was postponing the current US leg of his tour until January, citing “the heartbreaking loss experienced this week.”

    Payne died from “multiple traumas” and “internal and external haemorrhaging” after the fall from the hotel, an autopsy found.

    It suggested he had not tried to stop his fall and was in a state of “semi or total unconsciousness” before his death.

    The singer, who had spoken publicly about struggles with alcohol and coping with fame from an early age, was alone at the time and appeared to be “going through an episode of substance abuse,” prosecutors have said.

    Back in London, fan Chelsea Willy, 20, summed up the feelings of those mourning the loss.

    “It is just really sad,” the actress said. “I’ve been a fan of him since I was very little,” she added, noting she cried on learning the news.

  • Liam Payne: One Direction singer swept up by teenage stardom

    Liam Payne: One Direction singer swept up by teenage stardom

    Liam Payne, who died aged 31 after plunging from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, spent more than half his life in the public eye as a member of one of the world’s most successful boy bands.

    The singer from Wolverhampton in central England was first unsuccessful in his audition on the hugely popular television talent show “The X Factor”.

    But he hit gold on the programme in 2010, aged just 16, joining Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik — and One Direction was born.

    Over the next six years, the group enjoyed global fame and legions of screaming fans, selling more than 70 million copies of their five albums. They went on four world tours and won nearly 200 awards.

    Payne, described by former X Factor host Dermot O’Leary as “a joy… polite, grateful and… always humble”, was said to be the “driving force” behind some of One Direction’s most loved songs.

    He penned “Story of My Life”, “Night Changes” and “Midnight Memories” among others, and once referred to himself as the “first verse man” — singing the coveted first verse of most of the songs on the band’s first album “Up All Night”.

    After Malik left One Direction in 2015, the band went on an “indefinite hiatus” a year later, prompting Payne and the others to start solo careers.

    Payne met with early success with his debut solo single “Strip That Down”, released in 2017, reaching number three on the UK Singles Chart.

    Last year, he revealed he was working on a second solo album, having delayed a planned tour due to health problems, and released his last single “Teardrops” in March 2024.

    – Charity –

    Payne, who fell from a third-floor hotel balcony in the Argentinian capital on Wednesday, was in the city to watch his former bandmate Horan in concert.

    While the exact circumstances of the fall are unclear, police said they responded to a report of “an aggressive man who may be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”.

    He leaves behind a son from a previous relationship with the Girls Aloud singer Cheryl.

    News of Payne’s death left fans distraught. “I feel like it’s a part of adolescence lost,” said one, Lena Duek, 21, outside the hotel.

    She described One Direction as the soundtrack of her teenage years and had been hoping for them to reunite.

    British anti-poverty charity Trussell praised Payne for his “compassion and kindness” for supporting their foodbanks. Chief executive Emma Revie said he funded more than 360,000 meals during the pandemic.

    – Anxiety, frustrations –

    Payne’s death came as he faced heavy criticism on social media following an interview in which his ex-partner Maya Henry accused him of being abusive.

    In the interview this week, Henry said Payne would tell her he was “going to die” as a manipulation tactic. The Daily Mail reported Henry obtained a “cease-and-desist” order against Payne.

    In recent years, the singer opened up about his struggles with alcohol and dealing with fame at such a young age.

    “I’ve found in my life at the moment, because of the way things have happened, that everything’s kind of fast-forwarded,” he told Esquire Magazine in 2019.

    Speaking about anxiety and losing his sense of self, he added: “It’s a bit like being stuck out in deep water and you’re just going ‘well, it would be really nice to get back now’.”

    However, after taking a break, Payne said last year he was ready to return to music career in a video titled “I’m Back… “.

    In it, he said he was sober and apologised for taking out “frustrations” with his career on “everybody else”.

    “The rest of the boys really stuck by me when I needed them most, they kinda came to the rescue,” he added.

    “I feel like I’ve got more of a grip on life now, and everything that was getting away from me.”

  • One Direction star Liam Payne dies in shocking accident

    One Direction star Liam Payne dies in shocking accident

    Liam Payne, former member of the popular band One Direction has died at the age of 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina on October 16, 2024.

    According to police reports, emergency services were called to an upscale hotel in the Palermo neighborhood after receiving a 911 call about an aggressive individual. Upon arrival, they heard a loud sound from an interior courtyard, where they discovered Payne’s body. Authorities launched an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death, with an autopsy scheduled to determine the cause.
    Emergency medical services director Alberto Crescent shared that Payne suffered ‘serious injuries’ but did not provide details about the fall from the hotel balcony. Meanwhile the UK Foreign offices is in in contact with Argentinian authorities, but no further information has been disclosed.

    Argentina media outlets reported that an emergency call from a hotel manager reported a guest on drugs, destroying his room on the property.
    The hotel manager told the operator the room has a balcony, expressing fear that they might put their life at risk.

    The Buenos Aires security ministry said in a statement that when officers arrived, the hotel manager reported ‘the death of a man who had jumped from the balcony of his room.’

    American Singer Charlie Puth posted a story on his Instagram saying, “I am in shock right now. Liam was always so kind to me. He was one of the first major artists I got to work with. I cannot believe he is gone.”

    Just hours before his death Liam shared a story on Snapchat with a video of himself and his partner Kate Cassidy, in which he said, “lovely day here in Argentina.”

    Liam Payne became famous as a member of One Direction, a boy band that was formed on the X Factor TV show in 2018 along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik.

    On March 25, 2015 Liam Payne separated from One Direction.

    Here is the story of American Singer:

    Here are some songs of Liam Payne with One Direction: