Liam Payne, part of the immensely successful One Direction and who was also one of the group’s standout singers, fell from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, emergency services officials have reported. He was 31.

Payne, rose to fame as a singer and songwriter for the British group One Direction, also known as 1D.

His death was confirmed by Alberto Crescenti, the director of emergency services in Buenos Aires. The circumstances of the fall were unclear.

One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of allm burst onto the scene in 2011 when the group’s debut single, What Makes You Beautiful, hit No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. The other songs the band released namely, Story of My Life, Drag Me Down and Live While We’re Young, reached the chart’s Top 10.

The group, which had 29 total hits on Billboard’s Hot 100, would go on to release five albums and become one of the definitive boy bands of the 2010s, largely by eschewing the sleek precision and polish of an earlier generation of pop vocal groups.

After super success, One Direction announced in 2015 that it was taking a hiatus from performing as a group as each of the members decided to go on their own and dive into their solo careers.

As for Payne, he had recently celebrated his 31st birthday in the UK. Payne was born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands and is the youngest of three siblings. Payne was together with the band that also consisted of Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan, and first formed in 2010 after each member appeared on the UK version of reality competition show “The X Factor.”

Payne later released his debut solo album in 2019 titled “LP1.” In May 2023, Payne announced that he was working on a new album that he was “really excited” about, and also shared that he was planning a tour.

Reports revealed that he had also struggled with substance abuse. Payne had a son, born in 2017, who he shared with former Girls Aloud singing group member Cheryl Cole.