Published June 27, 2026
Niall Horan cherished his friendship with his friend and One Direction bandmate Liam Payne, and he continues to mourn the singer after his untimely passing.
However, the Irish musician looks fondly at the time they did have together and shed some light on those in a new interview.
Discussing his song about Payne, End of an Era, the Slow Hands hitmaker was asked about his favourite memory with Payne, to which he responded, “Oh, thousands. I know it'd be really random stuff like just after a gig, going to the studio after a show or like playing FIFA or just going on random excursions.”
Horan continued, “I remember one time we were in Peru and Louis and I were in Louis’ room and the curtains were closed and we'd gotten to Peru the night before and we passed this massive mall and we were like, okay, we're going to go shopping in the morning. Next morning, Liam comes in, me and Louis were playing FIFA and he goes, let's go shopping, it's time to go. And Louis just said, open that curtain and have a look out the window. Police had done a head count of 10,000 people outside our hotel. Needless to say, we never went shopping.”
Payne and Horan spent much time together during the One Direction days when the bandmates were always spotted together as they played shows, toured, or just enjoyed their company.
Despite the disbanding, the two kept in touch and spoke fondly of each other in their solo interviews as they ventured out in their careers.