One Direction star Liam Payne was reportedly in the “process of walking away” from his solo music career on the day of his tragic death this month.
The singer died after falling from the third floor of a Buenos Aires hotel on October 16, aged just 31. According to reports, a hotel worker called police after Liam was “acting erratically” before his death.
Companies House documents revealed that the ‘Strip That Down’ singer had filed papers to quit as the director of four companies on the day of his death. The firms were used by Liam to garner some of his income he accumulated from recordings and live shows.
The Mail said that his firms included Hampton Music Ltd, which was worth £17,300 in 2023. A second, Hampton Records Ltd, was valued at £300,000 in 2022, but this had fallen to less than £75,000, according to accounts.
A third company, Long Play Touring LLP, which focused on live performances, dropped from £135,000 to £17,000 in 2023. Finally, Hampton Publishing Ltd was worth only £729.
James Grainger, an editor at Buenos Aires Times, told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: “It’s not clear if the fall was accidental or intentional but the report, the 911 call, went in at 5.04pm the police said.
“It was reports of an aggressive man, who was said to be under the influence. Emergency services arrived seven minutes later and within that time Liam had fallen from the balcony and sadly died.”
The horrific incident was also captured on CCTV. An Argentinian journalist, Paula Varela, said the video showed that Liam had “fainted” on the balcony prior to the fall, but also claimed that authorities had decided to keep it from the public.
Liam, who shared seven-year-old son Bear with former Girls Aloud singer Cheryl, died of multiple trauma injuries, which led to “internal and external haemorrhaging”.
Liam shot to fame as a member of One Direction, having joined the group in 2010. He had initially been signed to Sony whilst the band were still together.
However, once the group split up, Liam carved his own path forward with rival firm Capitol Records in July 2016 and went on to work under the main label, Universal.
Liam’s 2019 solo album sadly received mixed reviews and only got as far as number 17 in the UK album charts before dropping from the top 50 the next week.
The much-loved singer had been working on a second album, but this was reportedly delayed before Universal dropped him.