‘Fame can be very damaging’
Boyzone star Mikey Graham has called on record companies to employ psychologists following Liam Payne’s death.
On Wednesday night, it was announced that Payne had been found dead in Argentina at the age of 31.
Emergency services said the singer had fallen from the third floor of the Hotel CasaSur in Buenos Aires. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The musician was best known around the world as a member of One Direction, formed in 2010 by Simon Cowell on X Factor when Payne was just 17.
Now, former Boyzone member Graham has urged the music industry to take better care of young talent calling on record labels to have psychologists on their books in honour of Payne.
In a post on X, the Irish singer wrote: “Rip Liam Payne. Such tragic news. I think it would be a wise move for record companies to have psychologists on their books from now on in his memory as a duty of care for the vulnerability of their young talent. Fame can be very damaging especially in today’s world. Lots of money. Nobody to help. Lots of yes people. Nobody honest.”
Pablo Policicchio, a spokesperson for the security ministry of Buenos Aires municipality, said that Payne “had thrown himself from the balcony of his room”.
Police said in an update that they had been dispatched to the hotel after an emergency call informing them of “an aggressive man who may have been under the effects of drugs and alcohol”.
Police had been called by the hotel manager requesting “urgent” assistance. In a full transcript of the call, the manager said Payne was “drunk with drugs and alcohol”
He asked for police to send someone “with urgency because I don’t know if the guest’s life is in danger because he is in a room with balcony, and we are afraid he could do something that threatens life.”
The head of the Buenos Aires’ SAME emergency medical service, Alberto Crescenti, told local television Payne had suffered “very serious injuries incompatible with life as a result of his fall” and there was “no possibility of resuscitation”.
After the news of his death broke on Wednesday, there were emotional scenes as fans gathered outside the Buenos Aires hotel.
Payne, from Wolverhampton in the UK, rose to global fame as part of One Direction, who were formed on the X Factor in 2010.
Although they didn’t win the show, One Direction became one of the biggest bands in the world, before going on hiatus in 2016.
Payne went on to launch a solo career, achieving a top 5 hit with his first single Strip That Down in 2017. The following year he made the top 10 again with the song For You, which he sang with Rita Ora, before releasing his only solo album, LP1, in 2019.
He has a seven-year-old son, Bear, who he shared with former wife Cheryl Cole.
