Niall Horan has said that his last memory with his former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne was "happy".
Payne had died after he fell from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina in October 2024. He was 31 years old. Horan had met up with Payne shortly before his death at one of his live shows in Argentina.
In November 2024, Payne's former bandmates, Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson reunited for his funeral, alongside their former manager Simon Cowell. The band burst onto the scene after participating on the X Factor in 2010, where Cowell served as a judge.
Speaking to The Sunday Times, Niall Horan shed some light on his last meeting with Payne, prior to his tragic death.
"I’m glad of that, it means my last memory of him was happy, it still feels surreal", Horan said.
He continued: "On day one I was, like, 'nah, it didn’t happen’, our friendship was a bond that was there for ever 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".
Niall Horan revealed that he is in regular contact with Liam Payne's family as they shared grief.
"All our families are in touch, they shared those experiences, too", he explained.
Elsewhere, Niall Horan's new album, Dinner Party, will be released next weekend, and includes a track called, End Of An Era, which Horan says is about his late bandmate and friend, Payne.
When asked what he thinks 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".
"It’s funny, actually, now you say that, thinking about the stuff he liked".
"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 added. "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".
Following their formation in 2010, One Direction released hits such as, What Makes You Beautiful, Story Of My Life, and Best Song Ever.
Dinner Party will mark Horan's fourth studio album, having previously released Flicker in 2017, Heartbreak Weather in 2020, and The Show in 2023.
Back in March, Niall Horan said that he did not believe that Liam Payne's death was real when he was first informed about it. More on this story here.
Elsewhere, Niall Horan added a fourth date at Dublin's 3Arena as party of his tour due to phenomenal demand.
