Louis Tomlinson has revealed it was Niall Horan who told him about the death of their former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne.
The 33-year-old singer said Payne, who died at the age of 31 on October 16 last year after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, had been “struggling” in the period leading up to his death and had been pushing for a reunion of the group.
Speaking on Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO podcast, Tomlinson said he was in Los Angeles when he first heard the news.
“In the car, in LA. I found out through Niall,” he recalled. “I had the same feeling that I had with my sister Félicité, and I think anyone has this when they’re around someone who’s struggling; my 150 per cent wasn’t nearly enough.
“It was my own arrogance thinking I could have helped really, because it was so much deeper than what I could have done for him. He was definitely struggling at that time in his life.”
A post-mortem examination found Payne died of multiple injuries and “internal and external haemorrhage” after falling from the third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
At the time, Tomlinson paid tribute on Instagram, writing that he was “beyond devastated” to have “lost a brother”.
“When I put up my post about him, I really wanted him to be remembered the way he should be remembered,” he told Bartlett. “I could go on all day about how amazing he was, but I think we all looked up to him.”
Tomlinson also said Payne had been the strongest advocate for a One Direction reunion.
“Never say never… but I’m just not sure it would be right to [reunite],” he said. “Say for the sake of argument, 25 years’ time, it’s like a f****** Oasis thing, they offer us an arm and a leg — I don’t know.
“The irony is, there was no one campaigning for One Direction to get back more than Liam. I would say I came in a close second.”
Payne, who rose to fame on The X Factor in 2010 alongside Tomlinson, Horan, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik, went on to release his debut solo album LP1 in 2019. His Brit Awards tribute earlier this year featured a montage of his career, from his talent show beginnings to One Direction’s seven award wins before their split.
