Liam Payne, the former One Direction singer, had multiple drugs in his system when he fell to his death from a hotel balcony in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires, several local and international news outlets have reported.
An initial toxicology report revealed the British singer, who died aged 31, had drugs in his system at the time of death including “pink cocaine,” according to a report from ABC News on Monday, which cited sources. The recreational drug typically includes a combination of MDMA, ketamine and methamphetamine.
Broadcaster Todo Noticias and several other Argentine media outlets, as well as TMZ, also said the preliminary report found evidence of exposure to cocaine, alongside traces of methamphetamines, ketamine, and MDMA in his system, and benzodiazepines and crack cocaine. NBC News has not been able to independently confirm the reports.
Despite its name, law officials say “pink cocaine” rarely has any cocaine in it and the pink comes from food coloring.
Bridget Brennan, the special narcotics prosecutor for New York, told NBC News in an interview in August, that pink cocaine contains a mixture of substances as is “typical with a lot of the drugs out on the streets.”The final toxicology report not expected to be made public for some weeks, with no public confirmed date for release.
NBC News reached out to Payne’s team and local authorities for comment on the reports regarding the partial autopsy result, but didn’t immediately receive responses.
Payne died shortly after a hotel receptionist called 911 to report that a distressed guest who was intoxicated with alcohol and drugs was “breaking the whole room.”
“The guest is in a room that has a balcony, and, well, we are a little afraid that he might do something life-threatening,” the caller said, according to audio obtained from local media by Telemundo.
A memorial for Liam Payne outside Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires on Monday.Tobias Skarlovnik / Getty Images
Argentina’s emergency health service, Sistema de Atencion Medica de Emergencia, or SAME, confirmed to Telemundo that Payne fell from the balcony of his third-floor room at the hotel in the city’s Palermo district.SAME director Alberto Crescenti told the Argentine TV station Todo Noticias TV that Payne was found dead a few minutes after the 911 call.
An autopsy found that Payne had 25 injuries “compatible with those produced by a fall from height” and that his cause of death was “polytraumatism, internal and external hemorrhage,” the Argentina National Prosecutor’s Office said.
Liam Payne achieved global fame with the English Irish boy band One Direction.
Liam Payne performing with One Direction.Christopher Polk / Getty Images for Clear Channel
One Direction was formed in 2010 by Simon Cowell after the teens all auditioned separately for The X Factor, a British musical competition.After splitting up, Payne launched a solo career with his 2017 debut single “Strip That Down” which reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Liam Payne’s One Direction bandmates said they were “completely devastated” by his death, they said in a statement on the boy band’s Instagram account last Thursday.
Following the joint statement, Tomlinson, Styles and Malik offered their own personal tributes on Instagram, with Tomlinson and Malik saying they had lost a brother.
Hannah Peart
Hannah Peart is an intern in the NBC News London bureau.
Liam Payne, a former member of the hit band, One Direction, has died at the age 31 in an incident in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Payne is understood to have fallen from his third-storey balcony of CasaSur Hotel in the Palermo neighbourhood of the city. According to authorities, it is as yet unknown whether Payne’s death was accidental, down to foul play or suicide.
Local emergency services confirmed his death, which has left fans and fellow artists in shock.
One Direction, which disbanded in 2015, had 29 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 and, as of 2020, had sold more than 70 million records worldwide, making it one of the best-selling “boy bands” in history.
Who were Liam Payne and One Direction?
Payne, the youngest of three siblings, was born in Wolverhampton in the West Midlands area of the United Kingdom. He studied music technology at the City of Wolverhampton College, laying the foundation for his future career in the music industry.
At the age of 14, Payne made his debut on the reality music competition TV show, The X Factor, in the UK in 2008 but did not make it past the initial stages. Undeterred, he returned two years later, delivering a powerful rendition of “Cry Me A River” that won the judges over.
One Direction was formed on that X Factor show in July 2010, brought together by one of the judges, Simon Cowell, later famous for being a ruthlessly critical judge on the TV reality show, American Idol.
All the group members had initially auditioned for The X Factor as solo artists, with the group consisting of Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.
Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik from Group One Direction X factor finalists are seen leaving ITV Studios on October 7, 2010, in London, UK [Danny Martindale/FilmMagic via Getty Images]
Their achievements solidified their position as one of the most commercially successful boy bands in music history, known for hits like “What Makes You Beautiful” and “Story of My Life”.
The band’s debut album, Up All Night, released in 2011, made history by becoming the first album by a UK-based group to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200. First-week sales hit 500,000 digital copies.
In 2013, they released their third album, Midnight Memories, which became one of their most successful albums, selling 4 million copies in less than two months. Their “Where We Are” tour in 2014 was one of the highest-grossing tours for a vocal group, earning revenues of $290m.
Following the announcement of an indefinite hiatus in 2015, the members of One Direction have since primarily focused on developing individual solo careers.
Payne released his debut solo single “Strip That Down” featuring US rapper Quavo in 2017. His solo debut album, LPI, released in December 2019, peaked at number 17 on the UK Albums Chart.
Payne has a seven-year-old son named Bear Grey Payne with his former British girlfriend, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini, who goes by the musician name Cheryl. Fernandez-Versini, 41, first met Payne in 2008 when he auditioned on The X Factor. Cheryl was a judge at the time alongside Simon Cowell, Dannii Minogue and Louis Walsh.
Fernandez-Versini was also an X Factor judge at One Direction’s appearance on the show in 2010.
After her split from ex-husband Jean-Bernard Fernandez-Versini, Cheryl reconnected with Payne in 2016. In 2017, they had their son, Bear Grey Payne, but split the following year.
Payne had openly addressed his struggle with alcohol addiction. In a July 2023 video, he shared his progress, stating that he had maintained sobriety for six months following a period of rehabilitation.
In March 2024, Payne released his last single, Tearsdrop, on which he collaborated with Jamie Scott and JC Chasez of N*SYNC. He shared footage of some emotional moments during the development of Tearsdrop on TikTok.
But Payne was experiencing personal problems this year as well. Earlier this month, his ex fiancee, 23-year-old model Maya Henry, filed a cease-and-desist order, seen by the BBC, complaining that Payne was repeatedly contacting her.
Henry, who is from the United States, had also been complaining about this on her social media. Payne did not publicly respond. The two began their relationship in 2019 and were engaged in 2020 before splitting up in 2021. The couple rekindled before finally splitting in 2022.
Hours before his death, Payne posted a Snapchat video in which he can be seen having breakfast with his current girlfriend, Kate Cassidy. He begins the video saying: “Morning everybody, lovely day here in Argentina.” He continues with light banter with Cassidy, smiling at times, as he talks about riding horses, playing polo and returning home to see his dog, Stan. He closes the video with: “So, it’s going to be a nice day.”
Liam Payne had posted on Snapchat in the hours before his death, sharing photos of himself with his partner Kate Cassidy as well as videos in which he said it was a “lovely day here in Argentina”.
Last month, Netflix announced it had signed up Payne to be a judge for its new reality TV competition, Building the Band. Other judges include Destiny’s Child alum Kelly Rowland, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, and Backstreet Boys member AJ McLean as the host.
Payne is survived by his parents, Geoff and Karen Payne, and his two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.
Why did he go to Argentina?
Payne travelled to Buenos Aires at the end of September to support his former One Direction bandmate, Niall Horan, at a concert that formed part of his tour, The Show Live On Tour, and featured his third studio album, The Show, which was released in June 2023.
This visit came after Payne’s appearance at Horan’s show at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires on October 2, where he watched the performance with fans in attendance.
How did Payne die?
According to local authorities, Payne fell from the third-storey balcony of CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
According to the recording of a 911 call to police obtained by The Associated Press news agency, the manager of CasaSur Hotel told police that there was “a guest who is overwhelmed with drugs and alcohol”.
Referring to Payne’s hotel room, the manager said: “He’s destroying the entire room and, well, we need you to send someone, please.”
On Wednesday, Buenos Aires emergency medical services (SAME) chief Alberto Crescenti told Argentinian news station Todo Noticias: “At 17:04 we were alerted through 911 about a person who was in the inner courtyard of the CasaSur Hotel. At 17:11, a team arrived and confirmed the man’s death.”
Payne was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.
“There was no possibility of resuscitation,” with the singer suffering “very serious injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall”, Crescenti told Todo Noticias news.
Officials are set to conduct an autopsy and launch an investigation into the circumstances surrounding Payne’s death. It is still unclear whether this was an accident or suicide.
Fans of One Direction and Liam Payne gather outside the hotel in Palermo, Buenos Aires, to sing the band’s songs and leave a candle at an improvised altar after British musician Liam James Payne, composer, guitarist and former member of the band, died on Wednesday, October 16, 2024 [Luciano Gonzalez/Anadolu via Getty Images]
What has been the overall reaction?
Celebrities and musicians from around the world have been paying tribute to the former One Direction member.
Television network MTV issued a statement on its X account: “We’re deeply saddened to learn of Liam Payne’s tragic passing today. During this difficult time, our hearts remain with his family, loved ones, and fans.”
The mother of Harry Styles, his former One Direction bandmate who has since developed his own singing and movie career, took to Instagram to post an image of a broken heart after hearing the news of Payne’s death.
Ant Middleton, a former ex-Special Forces soldier who made a documentary with Payne in 2019 titled Ant Middleton & Liam Payne: Straight Talking in which the pair journeyed together across Namibia, expressed shock at the news.
Middleton told Australia’s The Morning Show: “After we filmed Straight Talking with Middleton, he was my first celebrity guest and we formed the brotherhood now. He was like a younger brother to me.”
Flavor Flav from the US rap group, Public Enemy, shared his condolences on his X account, posting: “RIP to Liam Payne… much too young.”
Celebrities including Paris Hilton, the US society heiress, also expressed sadness. Media groups including Spotify and IHeartRadio have also posted reactions on their X accounts, expressing support for Payne’s family and friends.
Bridget Phillipson, UK education secretary and minister for women and equalities, told Sky News on Thursday morning: “It’s very sad news, it’s no age for someone to lose their life, and my thoughts are with his friends and family, this must be a total shock for them and very, very upsetting.”
Fans gathered outside the CasaSur Hotel in Buenos Aires to mourn Payne’s death, lighting candles and singing One Direction songs.
