THREE KEY FACTS Liam Payne, former One Direction member, died aged 31 in Buenos Aires after falling from a third-floor hotel balcony. Payne was found with substances in his bloodstream including pink cocaine, methamphetamine, ketamine, and MDMA. Perrie Edwards of Little Mix discussed the dark side of fame, highlighting Payne’s possible loneliness.
Steve Braunias is an award-winning New Zealand journalist, author, columnist and editor. OPINION Liam Payne (1993-2024) . Poor, broken, desperately unhappy kid – he was 31 but everyone will always want to remember him as a boy in the greatest boyband of all times.
Better than remembering him for his death, although I spend my days since his death wanting to remain in a state of crushing sadness about his death, so I read everything I can about his death at the Casa Sur hotel in Buenos Aires. “Our 61 rooms feature minimalist furniture, wooden floors and delicate textures.” His room was trashed, the smashed TV and the white powders and, that strange incongruous detail, a product on the supermarket shelves of New Zealand, a packet of Dove soap.
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