Niall Horan's new single "End of an Era" reflects on his grief after Liam Payne's death in October 2024
NEED TO KNOW
-
Horan previously said that he privately grieved Payne's loss, revisiting memories and photos of their time together
-
The song is part of Horan's upcoming album Dinner Party, set to release on June 5
Niall Horanis reflecting on the "End of an Era" with late friend and former bandmateLiam Payne.
On Friday, May 22, the singer-songwriter released a new single from his forthcoming album — and he gets candid about his friendship with Payne, whodied in October 2024 at age 31.
"We had it, pure magic / Remember what it was like / Time passes so fast that / I couldn't tell you goodbye," Horan, 32, sings in the first verse.
In the second verse, Horan sings about how "things change overnight" — and the "footsteps we can't rewind."
"Careless times, yeah, we sure had some / Naïve eyes, yeah, we sure looked young / Tears fall down like the future comes / Slowly, then all at once," he sings, before entering the emotional chorus. "Feels like letting go of / Things we're not supposed to / One breath and it's over / The end of an era."
"End of an Era" is the latest single from Horan's forthcoming albumDinner Party.
In an interview withGQ Hypein March, Horan revealed that "End of an Era" was a lullaby inspired by the grief of losing his friend.
At the time, he said he "went into hiding a little bit" after Payne's funeral in order to grieve privately. He also said he experienced feelings of nostalgia, fear and sadness when going through videos and photos of them together.
Advertisement
"[There are] memories that only he and I can share ‘cause you have a team and you have people around all the time,” the "Slow Hands" singer said. “But we always said that only us have that experience, no one else has that."
Horan also said that he spent time with his former bandmate just days before he took a fatal fall from his hotel balcony in Buenos Aires.
"It was great. [He] seemed in good form and we had a good laugh, good reminisce," Horan said, before revealing that he learned of his friend's death while watching TV in bed at home.
"I just remember getting a message. And I was just like, 'What?'... I just didn't think it was real," he said. "Someone so young, you're not expecting to hear that they've passed, especially someone that you've just seen. I just went back from shock to sadness to anger."
After Payne died, the "Heaven" singer wrote on social media that he was“absolutely devastated” by the loss.
"It just doesn't feel real. Liam had an energy for life and a passion for work that was infectious. He was the brightest in every room and always made everyone feel happy and secure," Horan wrote. "All the laughs we had over the years, sometimes about the simplest of things, keep coming to mind through the sadness. We got to live out our wildest dreams together and I will cherish every moment we had forever. The bond and friendship we had doesn't happen often in a lifetime."
Dinner Partyis out June 5.
Read the original article onPeople