Niall Horan is opening up about his former bandmate Liam Payne’s death.

The ex-One Direction star recently sat down for an interview with GQ Hype, where the subject of Liam came up during the course of the conversation.

Liam died in October 2024 at the age of 31, after falling from a balcony in Argentina while under the influence of numerous substances.

Shortly before his death, he attended Niall’s concert in Buenos Aires, with the two also catching up while they were both in South America.

“It was great,” the Slow Hands singer recalled, claiming the two quickly fell “back in like it was 10 years ago” when they met up. “[Liam] seemed in good form and we had a good laugh, good reminisce.”

Niall later got the message that Liam had died, admitting: “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.”

After he and his former bandmates attended Liam’s funeral, he said that he “went into hiding a little bit” to allow himself time to grieve, and has written a song about the loss on his upcoming album Dinner Party.

Per GQ Hype, on the song End Of An Era, Niall can be heard singing: “We had it, pure magic, remember what it was like, time passes so fast and I couldn’t tell you goodbye.”

In the days after Liam’s death, Niall told his Instagram followers: “Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure.

“All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn’t happen often in a lifetime.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Harry Styles recently shared his own feelings about the loss of Liam during a recent interview.

Read Niall Horan’s full GQ Hype interview here.