Liam Payne was seen posing alongside his girlfriend Kate Cassidy in his final Snapchat posts, shared just hours before his death.
The What Makes You Beautiful singer, who came to fame on the X Factor, died on Wednesday at the age of 31.
According to multiple reports, state police confirmed that he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
However, around an hour before the former One Direction star died, several photos and videos were shared on Payne’s Snapchat account, including him enjoying breakfast in Argentina where he talked about playing Polo.
One selfie was captioned: ‘Lovely day in Argentina,’ while another message said: ‘Happy I got some time away,’ alongside a heart emoji.
Payne also shared an image of himself posing with girlfriend Cassidy as she snapped the selfie in the mirror – the two appeared to be heading for a beach day with Payne in swim shorts and Cassidy in a bikini.
However, it’s thought to be an old photo previously shared on social media in August 2023 and it’s not known if the host of Snapchat posts were scheduled ahead of time.
In his last Instagram post, shared in May, Payne shared a photo with all his One Direction bandmates in tribute to director Morgan Spurlock following his death earlier this year. The singer could be seen posing alongside his former bandmates Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles with the late filmmaker.
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.’
After news of his death broke, tributes were shared by his fellow X Factor contestants, including Jedward and Rylan Clark.
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.’