Niall Horan shares biggest regret over Liam Payne: 'I wasn't aware'

Niall Horan is still processing the tragic death of his former One Direction bandmate, Liam Payne.

Appearing on the Tommy Tiernan Show on Saturday, February 4, Horan, 32, recalled his “pure shock” over Payne’s death in October 2023 — two weeks after they met up during Horan’s concert in Buenos Aires.

Shortly after Horan finally returned home after wrapping up his The Show Tour, news broke that Payne had passed away after falling from a third-floor balcony in Buenos Aires. And his mind immediately began racing with ‘what ifs.’

“I knew he’d had a couple of issues, but because I wasn’t around him like I was in previous years all the time, I didn’t realise to what extent. I knew there was some stuff going on, but I wasn’t aware of the depth,” admitted Horan.

“You go through like, ‘What could I have done if I’d known more? Should I have dug more into it? Could I have talked to other people to get an angle on it?’” he added as he fought through tears.

Payne was 31 years old when he passed away and left behind son Bear, then 7 years old. In the weeks following the tragedy, Payne was subjected to scrutiny, especially vis-a-vis drug use. Horan quickly learned to tune out the chatter as he processed his own grief, as it was all “irrelevant” to him.

“I have to say, after I made the mistake of turning [the news] on the first time… I just remember going, ‘No, I’m not doing that. I can’t go any further than this… I can’t be worried about what they’re going to say next…’” he recalled.

Horan has dedicated a song from his upcoming album, Dinner Party, to Payne. The song is titled End of an Era, and touches on sudden loss and the scarcity of time.