CROWD GATHERS TO MOURN BOY BAND STAR
Payne rose to global fame as part of the since-disbanded pop band One Direction, alongside Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson.
The boy band got its start after finishing third on the British version of the X Factor music competition show in 2010, but the group broke up in 2016 as its members pursued different projects including solo careers.
One Direction was ranked the third greatest boy band of all time by Entertainment Weekly in 2024. According to Celebrity Net Worth, Payne’s One Direction and solo career helped garner a net worth of some US$70 million.
Reuters reporters at the scene saw crowds gathering outside the hotel, where dozens of police and emergency services teams had cordoned off an area as night fell on the city.
Local news outlet Todo Noticias TV interviewed Hernan Palazzo, who works near the hotel in Palermo, who said, “The neighbourhood is very shaken up … There’s a lot of police, some fans arriving. It is very sad.”
One Direction fan Violeta Antier told Reuters she had come straight away after he sister told her Payne had died.
“I saw him two weeks ago at a Niall (Horan) concert, another One Direction member. He was there, I saw him,” she said. “He was ok.”
Payne had earlier this month attended the concert of his former bandmate Niall Horan in Buenos Aires.
“I feel like it’s a part of adolescence lost,” fan Lena Duek, 21, said outside the hotel Wednesday, adding she had been hoping for the band, whose music was the soundtrack of her teen years, to reunite.
“I’m in shock, I can’t believe it. I live five blocks away and thought I had to be here,” said another fan Martina Di Lalla, 23.
The musician has previously spoken publicly about his struggles with mental health and using alcohol to cope with the pressures of fame.
Last year he published a video to fans on his YouTube channel in which he spoke about having given up alcohol and thanked supporters for sticking with him through difficult times.
Earlier on Wednesday, Payne had appeared to post on Snapchat about his trip in Argentina, talking about riding horses, playing polo, and looking forward to returning home to see his dog.
“It’s a lovely day here in Argentina,” he said in the video.
