Liam Payne’s history with alcohol and drug abuse

Former One Direction heartthrob Liam Payne struggled with alcohol and drugs in the years before his sudden death at an Argentina hotel this week – and even admitted in one interview that he was not sure “how far [his] rock bottom” was going to be.

Payne made the startling confession during a 2021 appearance on the “Diary of a CEO” podcast in 2021, in which he opened up about how the harsh realities of being part of the boy band fueled his substance abuse.

“I was worried how far my rock bottom was going to be. Where’s rock bottom for me? And you would never have seen it. I’m very good at hiding it,” he told the host.

“I don’t even know if I’ve hit it yet.”

The “Strip That Down” singer, 31, died on Wednesday when he fell from a third-floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires.

He was described by the hotel manager as an “aggressive” customer who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol in the frantic moments before the fatal plunge.

Early success – and struggles

Payne was just 16 when he shot to superstardom as part of One Direction, the boy band fostered by Simon Cowell after the five members initially auditioned as solo artists for “The X Factor.”

The group’s lead single “What Makes You Beautiful” debuted in 2010 and quickly climbed the charts. By the time One Direction went on hiatus five years later, it was already one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.

Payne struggled with “pills and booze” and had “moments of suicidal ideation,” during the peak of the band’s wild success, he said during the “Diary of a CEO” interview.

“In the band… the best way to secure us, because of how big we’d got, was just to lock us in our rooms. What’s in the room? A mini-bar,” he said of the grueling tour schedule.

“So at a certain point I thought, I’m just going to have a party-for-one and that seemed to carry on for many years of my life.

“Then you look back at how long you’ve been drinking and you’re like, ‘Jesus Christ, that’s a long time.'”

Being “trapped” in “lonely hotel rooms…really f—d me up,” Payne added.

“There were points where it was toxic and difficult. Don’t get me wrong, we had the best time ever, but… you don’t realize you have a choice at that point.”

Payne was still with One Direction when, in 2014, he upset fans with a troubling photo of himself standing on the ledge of his apartment building in East London.

Payne later apologized for the photo, which was shared by one of his friends.

Payne also admitted that becoming a celebrity in his mid-teens stunted his maturity.

“I still feel like a child in so many ways. There is no link between money and happiness. It is a myth. Money is the ability to relax on certain things,” he said.

“The day the band ended, I was like, ‘Thank the Lord.’ I know a lot of people are going to be mad at me for saying that, but I needed to stop or it would kill me.”

In the 2021 interview, Payne claimed he had been sober for about a month.

Stuttering solo start

After One Direction parted ways in 2015, Payne signed with Republic Records and eventually released his debut solo single, “Strip That Down.”

The song reached number 10 on the US Billboard Hot 1000 in September 2017.

Also in 2017, Payne welcomed a son, Bear, with then-girlfriend Cheryl Cole. Cole and Payne split the following year.

Payne’s solo album, “LP1,” dropped in September 2018. As he worked to build up his solo career, however, the new dad repeatedly struggled with social gaffes apparently fueled by his substance abuse.

Payne appeared intoxicated during a troubling June 2022 spot on Logan Paul’s “Impaulsive” podcast series, during which he claimed that Simon Cowell built the One Direction brand around him specifically.

He also got criticism for alleging that one unnamed band member threw him against a wall backstage once during an argument.

“There was one moment where there was an argument backstage, and one member, in particular, threw me up a wall. So, I said to him, if you don’t remove those hands, there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again,” Payne recalled.

Payne took particular issue with former bandmate Zayn Malik, saying that “there’s many reasons” why he didn’t like the “PILLOWTALK” crooner.

Malik came up when Paul mentioned an incident involving his brother, Jake Paul, Malik and his ex-girlfriend, model Gigi Hadid.

“She tweeted something about get yourself a respectful man or something. That one didn’t age very well,” Liam said, seemingly referring to Hadid’s contentious split from Malik.

“I don’t agree with any of his actions, I can’t commend some of the things that he’s done. I can’t be on his side for that,” Payne said of his former bandmate.

“What I can say is I understand, and your only hope is that at some point in their life, the person on the other end of the phone wants to receive the help you’re willing to give them. That’s all I’ll say.” 

Sober update

Nearly two years after the Logan Paul interview, Payne announced that  he has spent time in rehab and was sober.

“I’m sober now, over 100 days. I feel amazing, I feel really, really good and the support from the fans has been really, really good, so I’m super happy,” he told iFL TV during an influencer boxing match in London in May 2023.

The singer also confirmed that he was working on a sophomore album, He was set to tour Latin America that fall, but canceled due to a severe kidney infection.

It was not clear if the infection was related to Payne’s drug and alcohol issues.

Sudden death

Payne fell to his death from the balcony of his Buenos Aires hotel room on Wednesday evening.

In the moments before the fatal fall, the hotel manager phoned emergency services and said the celebrity guest was destroying his room and was supposedly under the influence of “drugs and alcohol.”

“Well, we have a guest who is drunk on drugs and alcohol. And, well, he’s… When he’s conscious, he’s breaking up the whole room. And, well, we need you to send someone, please,” the manager told the dispatcher.

When the police arrived, they found Payne’s body in the hotel’s inner courtyard.

“The team could do absolutely nothing. There was no resuscitation because it was confirmed that he had died. The whole body had very serious injuries,” Buenos Aires emergency services chief, Alberto Crescenti said of the tragic scene.

Whether or not Payne was drunk or high when he fell is still pending the official autopsy results.