One Direction singer Liam Payne, aged 31, dies in Buenos Aires

Tributes have been coming in this morning to Liam Payne, the ex One Direction singer who died last night in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

These include fellow artists such as McFly, who posted on Twitter/X: “We’re shocked and extremely sad to wake up to the news of Liam Payne’s death. Our thoughts and love are with his family and friends at such a difficult time.”

Meanwhile Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, who crossed paths with Payne along the way, wrote on Twittter/X: “I am shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Liam Payne. It was a pleasure to work with him on our X Factor performance. God bless Liam, thinking of all his loved ones. He will be dearly missed.”

The 31-year-old singer fell from the third floor of a hotel room in the city, Buenos Aires police said in a statement.

Alberto Crescenti, head of the state emergency medical system, told Argentina’s Todo Noticias TV channel that Payne had fallen into an internal courtyard at the hotel: “A few minutes later (an) emergency team arrived and confirmed the death of this man who we later learned was from a musical group. He had injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall. There was no way to do anything,”

The Buenos Aires authorities are investigating the circumstances of Payne’s death and an autopsy is being conducted.

Payne was just 16 years old when he was selected by Simon Cowell to be part of One Direction in 2010. It’s often forgotten that the group did not actually win X Factor that year, but that hardly mattered; in the long run they went on to become far and away the most successful artists to emerge from the now-defunct TV talent show.

The biggest UK pop act since the Spice Girls, One Direction sold 70 million records worldwide and chalked up no fewer than four Number Ones on the Billboard album chart – an astounding achievement.

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They had a decent run for a boy band. Zayn Malik was the first to leave, in 2015, and the following year came the inevitable announcement of an ‘indefinite hiatus’. (Successful pop acts don’t ever ‘split up’ as such these days. Why unduly upset the fans when you can always leave the door open for a reunion if solo careers fail to spark...)

Whilst bandmate Harry Styles went onto to become one of the world’s most successful artists, Payne’s solo career never really got off the ground. His only album LP1 came out years after the split and could only reach Number 17 on the charts.

The singer appears to have had his struggles with mental health over the years and has been open about his addiction to alcohol – not uncommon problems when you’re a pop star struggling to come to terms with the end of the dream.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.