Harry Styles breaks silence over how One Direction bandmate Liam Payne’s death changed him

Harry Styles has opened up about losing his former bandmate in 2024. Photo / Harry Styles and Apple Music

Harry Styles says the death of his former bandmate Liam Payne made him reassess his life.

He told an interviewer ahead of his upcoming album release that he was still coming to terms with the loss.

“What do I want to do with my life? Like, how do I want to live my life?” he said on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show.

“I think the greatest way you can honour your friends who pass away is by living your life to the fullest.”

Styles and Payne found fame as members of One Direction, along with Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik.

The group formed as part of the X Factor television series in 2010. They went on to become one of pop’s best-selling boy bands before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.

Harry Styles talking to Zane Lowe about his upcoming album Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. Photo / Harry Styles and Apple Music

Payne, 31, died in October 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.

Police were called after the hotel reported an “aggressive man who could be under the influence of drugs or alcohol”, reported the Associated Press.

Minutes before emergency services arrived, Payne fell to his death.

The final toxicology test said he had “alcohol, cocaine and prescription antidepressants” in his system.

Liam Payne performs as part of One Direction at the Apple Music Festival in London in 2015. Photo / Christie Goodwin

“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,” said Styles, 32.

“I saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be great.”

He was still processing the death but knew there was a “desire from other people” for him to share his emotions publicly.

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

He found it difficult to deal with the strangeness of grieving in public and how other people “kind of own part of your grief”.

The interview comes before tomorrow’s release of Styles’ highly anticipated album, Kiss All The Time. Disco Occasionally.

He had not released any music for almost four years before Aperture, the lead single for the album, came out in January.

He said taking a break was important so he could decide whether or not music had become a job or was still a passion.

“I didn’t want to just roll straight into another process of making something, and I thought it was time to just, honestly, like, make sure I still loved it.”