One Direction star Liam Payne dies in fall from hotel in Buenos Aires, aged 31

The boyband favourite is reported to have died in a fall at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, local officials said, according to the Associated Press.

He was part of the original line-up of the world-famous boy band, formed in 2010, alongside Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Harry Styles.

After becoming one of the biggest pop groups in the world with five albums and four world tours, they went on indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Payne released his debut solo album LP1 in December 2019 which included the singles Polaroid and Familiar.

He and Girls Aloud singer Cheryl share a son Bear, born in 2017, having been in a high-profile relationship between 2016 and 2018.

The singer is reported to have fallen from his room in the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in the Argentine capital.

Witnesses have told TMZ that the tragic incident occurred just after 5pm local time, and that it came after the pop star was seen behaving erratically in the lobby of the hotel earlier in the day.

The singer attended one of Niall Horan's concerts in Argentina in recent weeks, and the former bandmates actually reunited during the show.

Liam enjoyed huge success as part of One Direction - but he previously admitted to struggling with drink and drugs, acknowledging that his lifestyle became a "cause for concern" at one point in time.

The 'Strip That Down' hitmaker - who starred in the band alongside Niall, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik - told the BBC: "When I was younger, I went straight in on the whisky. I tend to pick my poison early, then I stick with it until it bores me."

Liam confessed to suffering some "very dark years", despite his fame and success.

The singer shared: "There were a couple of very dark years of me going through extreme peril with different mental health things."