Niall Horan thankful he has happy last memory of Liam Payne
Niall Horan is glad his final memory of Liam Payne is a "happy" one.
Niall Horan has reflected on his grief for Liam Payne
The 32-year-old singer saw his One Direction bandmate in Argentina just days before his friend passed away in October 2024 after falling from his hotel balcony, and he will always be thankful they shared that time together, though he is still struggling to grasp the fact he'll never see him again.
Niall told the Sunday Times' Culture magazine: "I’m glad of that, it means my last memory of him was happy.
"It still feels surreal. 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.”
The Slow Hands hitmaker explained there is "light and shade" to his grief because he enjoys thinking back to the good times they shared.
He explained: “When I think of Liam’s passing, there is sadness, but it also makes me laugh and smirk because of the memories we had.
"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.”
Niall is still in contact with Liam's family.
He said: “All our families are in touch, they shared those experiences too.”
Niall's new album, Dinner Party, includes a tribute to Liam called End of an Era, and he thinks the Strip That Down hitmaker would have liked it.
He said: “I think it’s his type of song, he liked Coldplay, he loved songs like You and I by One Direction, songs that went somewhere.
“It’s funny, actually, now you say that, thinking about the stuff he liked.”
Although the rest of One Direction haven't heard the song yet, Louis Tomlinson wrote his own tribute to Liam, Dark to Light, and Niall recalled watching fans respond to the song when he watched his friend in concert in Paris last month.
He said: “We have this shared thing, but so do the fans, they had a loss too...
“It’s hard, you can’t tell someone that you don’t know him if they feel like they do. It’s part of why people like bands, they are attracted to different personalities, they have their favourite.”
