Niall Horan lost both a friend and bandmate when Liam Payne died in 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina. And in a new interview, the Irish star opened up about how his grief over his former One Direction bandmate led him to retreat from the rest of the world for a while.

Related Liam Payne Supports Niall Horan & Dances the ‘Macarena’ With Fans at Argentina Concert Niall Horan ‘Absolutely Devastated’ Over Death of ‘Amazing Friend’ Liam Payne: ‘It Just Doesn’t Feel Real’ Niall Horan Says ‘Hopefully the Rest’ of His Life Will Be Spent With Girlfriend Amelia Woolley, Who Inspired His New Album

In a GQ HYPE cover story published Thursday (March 19), Horan shared that he “went into hiding a little bit” after learning of his friend’s passing. “I just remember getting a message,” he recalled of learning that Payne had died, just two weeks after the late singer had attended Horan’s concert in Argentina. “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,” he continued. “I just went back from shock to sadness to anger.”

In the days that followed Payne’s death, all four of the surviving 1D members shared statements — as well as a joint band message — mourning the loss of the British singer-songwriter. “I’m absolutely devastated about the passing of my amazing friend, Liam,” Horan wrote at the time. “It just doesn’t feel real.”

Behind the scenes, the “Slow Hands” musician took a beat to process what had happened, eventually writing “End of an Era,” a song from his upcoming album Dinner Party, about Payne. Some of the lyrics were included in the cover story, with Horan singing of his friend, “We had it/ Pure magic /Remember what it was like/ Time passes /So fast and /I couldn’t tell you goodbye.”

But while he didn’t have the chance to properly say farewell to Payne, Horan does appear to be the last member of 1D who got to see the “Strip That Down” artist. At Horan’s show in Buenos Aires on Oct. 2, 2024, Payne smiled at and chatted with fans in the venue and cheered on his fellow X Factor alum from the stands, at some point hanging out together offstage.

“It was great,” Horan reflected of the experience. “ 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.”

Though Payne inspired “End of an Era,” most of the rest of Dinner Party is about the domestic bliss Horan has found with girlfriend Amelia Woolley over the last few years. Even the title of the album — and its lead single/title track, which dropped Friday (March 20) — pays homage to the type of gathering at which Horan first met Woolley.

In a Friday chat on Heart Breakfast With Jamie Theakston and Amanda Holden, Horan said Woolley is “dumbfounded” by her role as his muse. “She’s obviously never had a song written about her before,” he said. “And then I’ve written basically two albums about her and she’s like, ‘Ehh?'”

See Horan on the cover of GQ HYPE below.

View this post on Instagram