Niall Horan Reflects on Friendship with Liam Payne: 'It Means My Last Memory of Him Was Happy'
Niall Horan opens up about his memories with the late Liam Payne, sharing a mix of sadness and fond reflection following his passing.
Niall Horan has shared his memories of Liam Payne, reflecting on their time together with both “sadness” and fondness.
Speaking to The Times, Horan reminisced about his time with his One Direction bandmate, who passed away at 31 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in 2024. Horan shared that he had spent time with Payne in Argentina just weeks before his death, expressing gratitude for that final period together.
"It means my last memory of him was happy,” Horan said. “It still feels surreal. On day one, I was, like, ‘Nah, it didn’t happen.’ Our friendship was a bond that was there forever, even if we hadn’t seen each other for a while, and it’s wild that one day, like the flick of a switch, he’s gone.”
He described his grief as a mix of emotions, saying that thinking of Payne brought both “sadness” and moments of laughter due to the memories they shared.
“I’ll go to places and think of something stupid in a hotel or something random that makes me laugh. We always had good fun in Australia because we were able to get out and go to the beach. Liam wasn’t too bad at surfing. I can barely swim.”
Horan is preparing to release his fourth studio album, ‘Dinner Party’, which features a track dedicated to Payne called ‘End of an Era’.
When asked what Payne would think of the song, Horan said: “I think it’s his type of song, he liked Coldplay, he loved songs like ‘You & I’ by One Direction, songs that went somewhere.”
Earlier this year, Horan discussed his upcoming tour in support of the record with NME, explaining how he selects One Direction songs for his live shows.
“I’ll just play my favourites, I suppose,” he told NME. “And I try and stay away from [a song] if the lads are doing it. Like, if Harry’s touring and he’s playing ‘What Makes Me Beautiful’ every night, it’d be a bit stupid for me to do the same song at the same time.
“Or Louis did ‘Drag Me Down’ on his first tour, so I kept away from that [at first], and then I did it on the next tour… Also, [it’s about] what kind of vibe matches? What’s next? What’s either side of the song? I try and think about it that way, too.”
Days after Payne’s death, Horan paid tribute to the singer on social media, writing: “I’m absolutely devastated about the passing of my amazing friend, Liam. It just doesn’t feel real.
“Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.”
He added that he had seen Payne shortly before his death: “I feel so fortunate that I got to see him recently. I sadly didn’t know that after saying goodbye and hugging him that evening, I would be saying goodbye forever. It’s heartbreaking.”
Elsewhere, Harry Styles said the death of his former bandmate made him re-evaluate how he saw life, and vowed to live it to the fullest to honour him.
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