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Niall Horan honored his late One Direction bandmate Liam Payne on the opening night of his Dinner Party Live On Tour.
During his show in Birmingham, England, on Tuesday (September 22), Horan shared a touching tribute to Payne after playing his song "End of an Era," which in itself was written as a tribute to his late friend, who passed away in October 2024. After the song came to an end, a recording of Payne's voice began to play as he spoke about his bandmate's experience with the success of One Direction, per Billboard.
"We thought something might happen, but never anything like this," Payne could be heard saying, according to videos shared online. "I'm always trying to remind myself of where I come from and where I've managed to get to in my life. It's amazing, really..."
Payne died October 16, 2024, after falling from a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina. After sharing their initial tributes to their "brother" at the time, his 1D bandmates have opened up about his death in recent months, from Louis Tomlinson reflecting on the "impossibly difficult" loss to Harry Styles sharing that he "struggled" with the news.
Earlier this summer, Horan explained why the "Strip That Down" singer's tragic death "still feels surreal" nearly two years later and why he feels grateful to have spent time with him shortly before his passing.
"I'm glad of that, it means my last memory of him was happy," he said. "It still feels surreal. On day one I was like, 'Nah, it didn't happen.' Our friendship was a bond that was there forever even if we hadn't seen each other for a while and it's wild that one day, like the flick of a switch, he's gone."