Vacation in Argentina, Reunion with One Direction Bandmate and More

In the hours leading up to his death on Oct. 16, Liam Payne shared highlights of his Buenos Aires vacation on Snapchat. Less than an hour after he posted his last image, reports emerged that he died after a fall from a balcony, which PEOPLE confirmed. Payne was 31 years old.

Payne had been in Argentina since at least early October, when he attended the concert of his former One Direction bandmate, Niall Horan, in the capital.

In the Snapchat images shared Oct. 16, a smiling Payne, who had also recently signed on for a new Netflix project, appeared in good spirits and excited about the future. In one photo, he slumped in a chair and wrote that he was considering dressing as Forrest Gump for Halloween this year. He also expressed gratitude for the trip by posting a photo of the scenery and writing, “Happy I got some time away [red heart emoji].”

His final photo was a shirtless mirror selfie with girlfriend Kate Cassidy that was actually taken a year earlier and not from their Argentina vacation.

Earlier this month, on Oct. 2, Payne had attended Horan’s The Show: Live on Tour concert at the Movistar Arena in Buenos Aires.

In a video shared by a fan, Payne clapped to the songs and posed for photos and videos with concertgoers, according to Pop Crave.

Ahead of the show, Payne posted videos on Snapchat and said that he was heading to Argentina to see Horan perform with Cassidy.

In a clip shared on X (formerly Twitter), he suggested that he and Horan, 31, would have a conversation after the show. “I think we might just go and say hello. It’s been a while since me and Niall have spoken. We’ve got a lot to talk about. And I would like to square up a couple of things with the boy. No bad vibes or anything like that. But just, um, we need to talk.”

The former bandmates were able to reunite at Horan’s concert per photos on Payne’s Snapchat.

Payne’s trip came after news that he was set to collaborate with Nicole Scherzinger, Kelly Rowland and AJ McLean for Netflix’s musical competition series Building the Band. He and Rowland were going to be judges, while McLean was named as the host. Scherzinger will be a mentor and judge in the series, which follows individual singers as they attempt to form the next greatest band without ever seeing each other.

PEOPLE reached out to Netflix to ask about the future of the show in the wake of Payne’s death.

The singer’s personal life was also at the forefront during his final days. In May, his ex-fiancée Maya Henry opened up to PEOPLE about her recollections of their relationship and her “painful” abortion.

Speaking about her novel Looking Forward, which was inspired by true events of her life and includes the main character Mallory enduring an abortion, Henry told PEOPLE of her own abortion, “If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have done it. But then also, if I were to have made a different decision, then I would’ve lost the person that I loved. There were definitely difficult conversations about it. But looking back now, things happen for a reason.”

Henry’s fictional book, following the relationship between young model Mallory and a British pop star, contained sensitive material like abortion, abuse, violence, self-harm, substance abuse and eating disorders. While Henry told PEOPLE “obviously the book is fiction,” she said she “drew inspiration [from my real life].”

Just one week before Payne’s death, Henry reportedly issued a cease-and-desist order to Payne after she alleged he repeatedly contacted her, per the Daily Mail. A lawyer for Henry did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.

“Ever since we broke up, he messages me, blows up my phone … always from different phone numbers,” Henry said on TikTok about Payne, whom she didn’t name but associated with “One Direction fans.”

“He’ll create new iCloud accounts to message me,” she claimed.

A source with knowledge of the situation tells PEOPLE that Payne “was extremely overwhelmed by all of the legal issues” involving his ex.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. 

Payne died after falling multiple stories at Buenos Aires’ CasaSur Palermo Hotel. Policía Federal Argentina confirmed the news with PEOPLE. Local police are investigating the cause of his death and an autopsy will be conducted. He is survived by son Bear Grey, 7, whom he shares with his former partner, singer Cheryl.

Argentine news channel TN was first to report the news.