Liam Payne 'faced struggles' and 'had difficult time' in final years before tragic death

One Direction's Liam Payne died suddenly at age 31 after a fall from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires' Palermo district.

The sudden loss of the pop sensation sparked an outpouring of grief among fans and fellow artists. Local officials have announced plans for an autopsy and investigation to understand the circumstances that led to Payne's unforeseen death.

Breakfast hosts and Ben Thompson broke the news to viewers on the morning of Thursday (October 17), inviting BBC's Culture and Media Editor Katie Razzall to speak about the singer's tragic end.

Katie remarked: "You've got to always feel sorry for the band members that don't reach the heights of fame, often one of them does. You can sort of see it happened a bit with with Robbie Williams going off and then becoming a very successful solo artist. The same, of course, happened to . He just went from strength to strength after leaving ."

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"The other band members have toured and had some hits, including Liam Payne. In 2017, he released his single Strip That Down, written by , and in fact when the bad split there was a thought he might become a full-time songwriter.", reports .

"His debut album came out in 2019 to fairly mixed reviews and then a song he released last year didn't make the charts so he was having a difficult time in the last few years it appears, and he has talked about his struggles with addiction and alcohol."

Devastated fans have been turning up outside the hotel to pay their respects to the late singer, with many lighting candles, bursting into renditions of One Direction songs or joining in moments of silence. Celebrities like rock icon , star Dermot O'Leary, and the multi-talented Rylan have joined numerous others in paying their respects.

Anne Twist, mother to Harry Styles whom Payne shared the limelight with in One Direction, took to to share a poignant message: "Just a boy."

Liam soared to fame after competing on The X Factor's fifth series in 2010, when he was grouped with Harry, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik to form One Direction.

The band skyrocketed to global success, selling 70 million records worldwide and filling stadiums with fans. Liam is also known for being the father of Bear Payne, his son with Cheryl, who was formerly part of the hit girl group Girls Aloud, born in 2017.

BBC Breakfast airs daily on BBC One at 6am