Featured Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartMedia
Topics: Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Celebrity, News
Lucy Devine
Topics: Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Celebrity, News
Niall Horan has shared a song he wrote about Liam Payne, while 'in hiding' following his tragic death.
In October of 2024, Payne sadly died after falling from the third floor of his Buenos Aires, Argentina, hotel room balcony. He'd been in South America at the time, supporting former bandmate Horan, who'd been on tour.
A post-mortem examination report revealed how Payne died of multiple traumas and 'internal and external haemorrhage'.
Following Payne's death, his bandmates have spoken about his passing, with Harry Styles most recently opening up about the loss.
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"It’s difficult to lose any friend, but it’s so difficult to lose a friend who is so like you in so many ways," the 32-year-old told DJ Zane Lowe for his Apple Music podcast.
"It’s like, I saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be great."
Horan has also recently spoken about what happened, after explaining he had only seen Payne shortly before he died.
“It was great,” Horan told GQ.
“Seemed in good form and we had a good laugh, good reminisce.
“I heard Louis 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.”
Payne had been in Buenos Aires for a routine visa renewal, but timed it to coincide with Horan's tour.
After the pair had caught up, Horan continued his tour, revealing how he later found out about Payne's death.
“I just remember getting a message,” Horan said. “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 has since penned a song about his bandmate, explaining that he went 'into hiding' following the funeral.
'End of an Era' opens with the following lyrics: “We had it / Pure magic / Remember what it was like / Time passes / So fast and / I couldn’t tell you goodbye.”
Horan wrote it with John Ryan and Julian Bunetta, with Bunetta adding to GQ: “We rewrote it two, three times maybe, just trying to just get the essence of the feeling. We just kept working on it until we felt it was right. And I love it.
"It could be easy to not write about it because it’s a hard subject. It’s a hard thing to do. So I’m proud of him for doing it.”