Harry Styles reflected on his One Direction bandmate Liam Payne’s 2024 death in a recent interview, saying it was “strange” for people to “own” part of his grief.
“I think there was a period when he passed away where I really struggled with acknowledging how strange it is to have people own part of your grief in a way,” Styles told Zane Lowe in an Apple Music interview released Wednesday. “I have such strong feelings around my friend passing away, and then suddenly being made aware of there’s maybe a desire from other people for you to convey that in some way or it means you’re not feeling what you’re feeling or something.”
In the interview with Lowe, Styles, whose new album “Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally” comes out Friday, had been speaking about what being an artist means to him.
“I think that makes someone an artist is letting them watch you be an ordinary person. It’s not about being ‘I am this mystic thing,’” Styles said. “I think the difference is we’re all ordinary people and there’s some people who let other people watch you be an ordinary person.”
Lowe then said he thought of Payne when Styles said that: “People who struggle to get out of extraordinary situations.”
Styles then said, “full transparency,” that he struggled with just the idea of talking about Payne’s death.
Payne, who was one-fifth of the boy band One Direction, died in October 2024 at age 31 after falling off a Buenos Aires hotel balcony. An autopsy report found he had alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants in his system. All four of Payne’s One Direction bandmates, including Styles, attended Payne’s funeral in England.
Styles’ interview with Lowe is the first time the singer has publicly spoken about Payne’s death.
“It’s so difficult to lose a friend,” he said. “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. I saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be great.”
The singer said Payne’s death made him take a look at his own life and ask himself how he wanted to live it.
“I think the greatest way you can honor your friends who pass away is by living your life to the fullest,” Styles said.
He said Payne was a “super special person.”
Styles also opened up about winning the 2023 Grammy Album of the Year for “Harry’s House.” He said he wrote himself a letter the night before to open after the Grammys, whether he had won or not, to “catch” himself, whether he was disappointed for “feeling” himself “a little too much.” He paraphrased the letter, saying it said, “Whatever everyone just told you, it’s not true. Remember why you made it. That is the reward.”
“I remember opening it and being like, I was so smart two days ago,” he said.
In January, Styles announced his 2026 tour, which will include 30 dates in New York City, his only stop in the U.S.
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