Liam Payne commemorated his beloved One Direction bandmates in his final Instagram post before his death.
The What Makes You Beautiful singer, who came to fame on the X Factor, died today at the age of 31.
Tributes have poured in from his fellow X Factor contestants, including Jedward and Rylan Clark.
According to multiple reports, state police confirmed that he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
In his last Instagram post, shared in May, he could be seen posing alongside his former bandmates Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles, as well as late director Morgan Spurlock – following his death earlier this year.
Spurlock directed and produced the group’s 2013 documentary, One Direction: This Is Us, chronicling their rise to superstardom.
Alongside the post, he wrote: ‘Rest in peace Morgan Spurlock it was a pleasure working with you.’
Fans quickly flooded the comments of the post with heartfelt tributes to Payne.
JimmySmythesings wrote: ‘The industry failed you. Rest in Piece Liam.’
Cicifilms_xo penned: ‘Rest in peace Liam, you were my childhood.’
‘Omg can’t believe this news. This can’t be real…,’ Ayesha Khanomm.x said.
As Sophiagr4cee added: ‘I can’t believe his last post was a tribute to someone else. I’m in denial rest in peace Liam.’
He reportedly also shared a glimpse into his holiday on Snapchat just hours before his death, with videos making the rounds on social media.
Payne was said to be staying at Hotel Cas Sur in Palermo during his getaway.
His cause of death has not yet been confirmed – Alberto Crescenti, head of the Buenos Aires medical emergency services SAME, said on the television channel TN: ‘Our role was to head there quickly, give medical attention, and try to resuscitate him, but his injuries were incompatible with life.’
The dad-of-one had also been in the audience of Horan’s recent concerts in Argentina just weeks ago.
Payne first auditioned for the X Factor as a solo singer in 2008, at the age of 14, but was initially axed at the judges’ houses round.
He returned two years later and was placed into a group with Styles, Malik, Horan and Tomlinson – they eventually finished in third place, beaten by Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson.
Despite not winning the competition, they shot to worldwide fame following the success of their debut single, What Makes You Beautiful, in 2011.
They followed this up with hits including Best Song Ever, Steal My Girl, You & I, Kiss You and One Thing.
In 2015, it was revealed that Malik had left the group, with the remaining members continuing as a four-piece.
Later that year, they announced a hiatus, with all four members going on to release solo music.
Payne went on to release Strip That Down in 2017, which charted inside the top five in the UK, Australia, Ireland and New Zealand.
His debut album, LP1, came out in 2019, and he was due to release his second solo album this year, but it was reportedly scrapped.
‘This time, the scariest part is that every one of these songs is a story from my life,’ he previously told Q Radio.
‘And they’re really close to me. I hope people feel that through every song, that I actually felt whatever it is you’re feeling right now listening to this.
‘We’ve rewritten a lot of these songs based off the idea of where we’re going with this and also how I’m feeling as a person.
‘I used to show up to sing a song, then go. Absolutely not this time. We’re going to have fun with this.’
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