Niall Horan was in Argentina with Liam Payne just a few weeks before Payne died in October 2024. He says he is grateful for that.
"I'm glad of that, it means my last memory of him was happy," Horan said in a new interview with The Times of London. "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."
According to reports by both Deadline and Variety, Payne died at age 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires. Horan, who grew up in Ireland, was one of five members of One Direction alongside Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, and Zayn Malik. The group disbanded in 2016, with each member going on to release solo music.
Horan described what he calls a "light and shade" to his grief. The sadness is real, but so are the memories that make him laugh.
"When I think of Liam's passing, there is sadness, but it also makes me laugh and smirk because of the memories we had," he said. "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 said the families of all the former bandmates have stayed in contact since Payne's death. "All our families are in touch, they shared those experiences too," he said.
His upcoming album, Dinner Party, releases June 5 and includes a tribute track to Payne called "End of an Era." When asked what Payne would have thought 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."
Horan also noted that the loss extends beyond the group itself. "We have this shared thing," he said of his former bandmates, "but so do the fans; they had a loss too."
When The Times asked whether One Direction might ever reunite, Horan did not close the door. "God knows. I mean look at Harry there, look at Louis, the boys are flying, so God knows, but everyone still asks about it; it's exciting," he said.
