Liam Payne, who rose to fame as a singer and songwriter for the British group One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, died after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires on Wednesday. He was 31.

His death was confirmed by Alberto Crescenti, the director of emergency services in Buenos Aires.

One Direction burst onto the scene in 2011 when the group’s debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100. Five of its other songs reached the chart’s Top 10, including “Story of My Life.”

The group, which had 29 total hits on Billboard’s Hot 100, would go on to release five albums total and become one of the definitive boy bands of the 2010s, largely by eschewing the sleek precision and polish of an earlier generations of pop vocal groups.

One Direction announced in 2015 that it was taking a break from performing as a group, and each of the artists has since invested most of their time in their solo careers. Mr. Payne released a single under his name earlier this year.

Mr. Payne auditioned as a solo artist on the television show “The X Factor” in 2008. But he found even further success in 2010 when he was put together with four other contestants — Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson — for another round of auditions that eventually turned into One Direction.

The band was brought together by Simon Cowell, the sharp-tongued English television personality and music executive — best known to American audiences from his time on “American Idol” — who tailored the group’s sound and songs to appeal to teenage girls.