Niall Horan turned grief into songwriting after his former One Direction bandmate tragically died in October 2024.
In a new interview with GQ published March 19, Horan, 32, recalled meeting Payne just days before his death when the latter attended the former’s The Show tour in Buenos Aires.
“It was great. Seemed in good form and we had a good laugh, good reminisce,” Horan recalled. “I heard Louis [Tomlinson] talking about this recently, it’s so true. It’s like you haven’t seen each other in ages and then you just fall back in like it was 10 years ago.”
Little did Horan know that it was the last time he would meet Payne, who fell to his death from a hotel balcony on October 16. “I just remember getting a message. And I was just like, What?… I just didn’t think it was real. Someone so young, you’re not expecting to hear that they’ve passed, especially someone that you’ve just seen. I just went back from shock to sadness to anger,” Horan shared.
Following Payne’s funeral — which was also attended by 1D’s Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik — Horan “went into hiding a little bit” to mourn Payne. That’s when he wrote End of an Era, the final song in his upcoming fourth studio album, Dinner Party, dropping June 5.
Horan also paid tribute to Payne following his death, writing, “We got to live out our wildest dreams together, and I will cherish every moment we had forever.”
He continued, “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.”
