Former One Direction Member Liam Payne Dead at 31

Today, TMZ reported that Liam Payne, a founding member of the British pop group One Direction, passed away after falling from a balcony on the third floor of the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Payne was 31. ABC has corroborated TMZ’s report, reporting that state police have confirmed his death. An investigation into Payne’s death is ongoing.

Payne and his One Direction bandmates, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, found fame after their tenure on The X Factor in 2010. Simon Cowell is responsible for putting the group together, marking the first time in the show’s history that a boy band was formed. The quintet quickly became one of the most popular pop groups in the word, cited as having some of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time and selling more than 70 million records in the six years they were together.

In 2016, One Direction announced they were going on an indefinite hiatus. Three years later, Payne released his debut album, LP1, via Capitol Records. It was certified Platinum in Canada and went Gold in the United Kingdom.

This is a developing story.