Liam Payne's family have released a statement following his unexpected death on Wednesday at the age of 31. The former One Direction member reportedly fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“We are heartbroken. “Liam will live on in our hearts forever and we will remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul,” the family said in a statement to PA Media, the UK and Ireland’s national news agency. “We support each other as a family as best we can and ask for privacy and space during this terrible time.”

At the same time, the emergency call from the staff of the Hotel CasaSur Palermo was released, detailing the events leading up to Payne's tragic death. According to a transcript translated from Spanish by the BBC, a hotel staff member told emergency services there was a “guest who is under the influence of drugs and is trashing the room, so we need someone to come.”

Then the line was disconnected and a second call was made by the hotel employee. After the call was successful, the employee continued: “You need to send someone urgently because I don't know if his life or the guest's life is in danger. He's in a room with a balcony and we're a bit worried he'll…”

The employee also told the 911 dispatcher that staff did not have access to Payne's room and therefore needed police assistance. The emergency call center then sent the police to the hotel.

Although it was initially reported that Payne fell three floors from the hotel, Pablo Policicchio, the communications director of Buenos Aires' security ministry, later said in a statement that Payne “jumped from the balcony of his room.”

Payne was discovered on The X Factor in 2010 alongside his One Direction bandmates Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horan. The five musicians applied for the show solo, but were put together as a band and ultimately took third place in the competition. Afterwards, One Direction was signed by Syco Entertainment, “X Factor” judge Simon Cowell. The band went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands in history, selling 70 million records worldwide before announcing an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Following One Direction's hiatus, Payne signed a solo record deal with Capitol Records UK and began releasing music in 2017, starting with the single “Strip That Down” featuring Migos rapper Quavo. His debut solo album “LP1” was released in December 2019 and in March he released a new single, “Teardrops”, with a second album in preparation.

Payne has been open about his struggles with alcohol and suicidal thoughts, revealing just last year that he had been sober for more than three months. “I’ve been sober for over 100 days now,” he told IFL TV. “I feel great, I feel really, really good and the support from the fans has been really, really good, so I’m super happy.”