Niall Horan felt like he ‘had to’ rewrite song after Liam Payne died

By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter

Former One Direction star Niall Horan said he felt like he “had to” rewrite one of his latest songs after the death of former bandmate Liam Payne.

The pair rocketed to fame in One Direction, alongside Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson, after the group were formed on ITV singing competition The X Factor in 2010.

In an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Horan reflected how it felt like “the right thing to do” when he rewrote one of his songs after Payne died aged 31, after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina in 2024.

The 32-year-old said he wrote the track with songwriters John Ryan and Julian Bunetta, who helped with One Direction’s final record before going on hiatus in 2016, titled Made In The A.M.

Horan said: “We wrote End Of An Era about four times, because originally the song to me meant, ‘all right, we’re moving on’.

“Looking forward to the future, looking back on the past with nostalgia, being happy with what you had, excited for what’s going to happen.

“We’d written that song a long time ago. And then it was like, ‘No, we need to return to this’ after Liam passed.

“John and Julian lived next door to Liam for a long time, and we all grew up together. For the three of us, it was actually quite a crazy experience to have to write a song like that, because you don’t ever expect to.”

Reflecting on the process of recording the song, which is reportedly about Payne, the Irish singer continued: “I remember myself and John stepping outside at the studio and writing these lyrics for 20 minutes. We started again and still had the chorus.

“Just a very weird experience for us all, but something that we all felt like we had to do for ourselves, for anyone who’s lost anyone, for the fans, for anyone that knew Liam.

“It felt like the right thing to do and something that we wanted to do — just terrible that we had to.”

The Mullingar-born star also spoke about his relationship with his former bandmate and that he “feels a sense of pride” when he watches their performances as solo artists.

Horan told the music magazine: “I went to Harry’s show a couple of years ago and that was just wild. Madness going on there.

“It reminded me of the (One Direction) stadium shows where it was just seas of people jumping up and down. Watching the things going on on the floor, all the fans dancing around, I love that.

“You feel a sense of pride watching the boys doing what they love to do and the communities that they’re able to create.”

He added: “It’s crazy watching the fans and watching how they’ve grown up, but still have that youthful energy, and what they bring to shows.

“Hearing that roar when each of them come out onto the stage, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I understand that scream. I get it’. It sounds like a rocket’s about to take off.”

You feel a sense of pride watching the boys doing what they love to do, and the communities that they’re able to create.

One Direction, best known for songs such as Story Of My Life, What Makes You Beautiful and Best Song Ever, had four UK number one singles and four UK number one albums.

Horan’s solo career was launched after he and his fellow One Direction band members went on hiatus in 2016, almost a year after Malik left the group.

He released his debut solo album Flicker in 2017, and released the albums Heartbreak Weather (2020) and The Show (2023), with his latest record Dinner Party to be released this summer.