Harry Styles says former bandmate Liam Payne’s death made him re-evaluate how he saw life

Harry Styles has spoken about the impact former One Direction bandmate Liam Payne‘s death had on him, saying it prompted him to re-evaluate how he was living his life.

Payne died in October 2024 at the age of 31 after falling from the third floor of a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

In the aftermath, Styles and the fellow surviving members of One Direction – Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson – shared a joint statement on Payne’s death, where they expressed their devastation, and that they would need time “to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly.” 

Styles later released a statement of his own, in which he wrote: “Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve, he had an energy for life that was infectious. He was warm, supportive, and incredibly loving. The years we spent together will forever remain among the most cherished years of my life. I will miss him always, my lovely friend.”

Styles then reflected on the impact of Payne’s passing almost a year and a half on in an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, admitting he still found talking about it very difficult.

“Full transparency, it’s like something that I, even the idea of talking about it, I struggle with that a little bit even,” he admitted.

He revealed that his grieving process was complicated by the fact he was doing so in the public eye. “I think there was a period when he passed away, where I really struggled with kind of like acknowledging how strange it is to have people kind of like own part of your grief in a way.

“I have such strong feelings around my friend passing away, and then suddenly being, you know, like aware of there’s maybe like a desire from other people of you to convey that in some way, or it means you’re not feeling what you’re feeling or something, you know?

“It’s so difficult to lose a friend. 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,” he continued. “It’s like, I saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be great.”

As such, it prompted him to reflect on how he was living his life. “It was a really important moment for me in terms of taking a look at my life and being able to say to myself, ‘OK, what do I want to do with my life? How do I want to live my life?’”

“And I think the greatest way you can honour your friends who pass away is by living your life to the fullest. Like super special person and really sad.”

Styles’ new album ‘Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally’ is released this Friday (March 6). In a four-star review of the album, NME wrote: “Largely, Styles taking a new approach to things really works – ‘Kiss All The Time…’ feels like an album that you’ll really want to spend a lot of time with, letting all its layers envelope you. But, very occasionally, there are things that don’t quite hit the target.

“‘American Girls’ is fun but easily forgettable when held up against the rest of the tracklist, and the acoustic moment of penultimate song ‘Paint By Numbers’ is a little jarring between ‘Dance No More’ and the gorgeous synth soar of ‘Carla’s Song’. As Styles has shown us, though, even life’s blips have value, and these instances can’t stop his fourth album from feeling like a triumph.”

Styles returned to the stage for the first time in three years at the BRIT Awards in Manchester on Saturday (February 28), performing the album’s lead single ‘Aperture’ in a flamboyantly choreographed routine with a large troupe of dancers.

Since then, he has confirmed a huge, seven-city ‘Together, Together’ tour, which includes a 12-night residency at London’s Wembley Stadium and an impressive 30 dates at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

When tickets went live for UK dates, there were queues of up to 250,000 people for each of the shows. It has also been revealed that Styles has broken several records at both Wembley and Madison Square Garden thanks to huge demand.

The Wembley gigs will see the ‘As It Was’ singer donate £1 from every ticket sold to LIVE’s levy, helping to protect UK grassroots music venues and support emerging talent.

He’s also announced a “one night only” performance of the album at Manchester Co-Op Live Arena, with tickets costing £20.

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