Liam Payne’s final years marked by turmoil and addiction struggles before tragic death

Liam Payne spent his final years in turmoil, according to a source close to the former One Direction member.

“Liam had been cycling through periods of ruinous behavior for a long time,” the insider revealed exclusively to Page Six.

“He was open about his struggles but tried to downplay them at times. His demons were much worse than he let on.”

Payne passed away on Wednesday in Buenos Aires after falling from the third floor of a hotel. He was 31.

Although the cause of death was not immediately disclosed, police reported that the “Strip That Down” singer may have been "under the influence of drugs or alcohol" before throwing himself off the balcony, resulting in “extremely serious” injuries that proved fatal.

Earlier that day, Payne shared a video on Snapchat, saying he was having a "lovely day in Argentina" with his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy. However, the footage appeared to be old, as the 25-year-old influencer had flown back to Florida earlier in the week, according to her TikTok.

The English singer, who rose to fame on “The X Factor” in 2008 as part of One Direction, had been open in recent years about his struggles with addiction and mental health.

In a 2021 podcast, Payne mentioned hitting "rock bottom" and dealing with "suicidal ideation" during his time in the globally successful boy band, which disbanded in 2016 and included Harry Styles, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson. (Zayn Malik left the group in 2015.)

However, in 2023, Payne revealed that he had gone to rehab and was more than 100 days sober, sharing this progress with fans.

One of his final public outings was on October 2, when he attended Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires, seemingly extending an olive branch after criticizing One Direction in a 2022 interview.

As of yet, Styles, 30, Horan, 31, Tomlinson, 32, and Malik, 31, have not publicly commented on the news of their former bandmate’s death.