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Simon Cowell is reflecting on finding out that Liam Payne had passed away.
The former One Direction singer died at age 31 after falling off a hotel balcony in Argentina in October 2024.
“Somebody who works with me very closely came into my room,” Cowell, 66, shared with The New York Times in an interview published Saturday. “I was up in the north of England, and I could tell by the look of her face that she was upset. She said, ‘Sit down,’ and she told me. And it was like — wow.”
The former “American Idol” judge compared his reaction to how he felt when he lost his father, Eric Philip Cowell, at age 81 in 1999.
“It was a bit like I felt when I heard the news when my dad passed away,” Cowell said. “It’s very difficult to put into words how you feel. It’s just shock. At that point, you’re not really thinking clearly.”
The British media mogul immediately felt the need to contact the artist’s family.
“I just remember saying: ‘I really need to speak to his mum and dad. Can you get them on the phone as soon as possible, please?’” Cowell recounted. “Because, God, as a parent, what that must have felt like. I knew his mum and dad, and I wanted to reach out, just to say how I felt. It was just awful, awful.”
Cowell shares son Eric, 11, with fiancée Lauren Silverman. Payne himself was also a father to son Bear, 8, with ex Cheryl Cole.
The last time the music exec saw the late star was a year prior to his death.
I remember seeing him walk into this room and saying: ‘God, you look amazing, Liam. What have you done?’” he told the outlet. “[He said,] ‘Well, I’m going to the gym’ … We talked about his son and how much it means to be a dad.”
Their conversation went far past the scope of the industry.
“I was talking to him about there’s more to life than just music; you’ve got to a point in your life where you’ve got choice now … We just hung out as friends. That’s why I was so shocked and surprised when I heard the news.”
Cowell and Payne first crossed paths on “The X Factor” in 2010. He rejected him from the show when he initially auditioned at just 14.
Cowell later placed Payne with Zayn Malik, 32; Harry Styles, 31; Niall Horan, 32; and Louis Tomlinson, 33; to form One Direction.
The boy band placed third during Season 7, but soon became a worldwide sensation. One Direction completed five studio albums, four world tours and won several awards.
Earlier this week, Cowell addressed claims that some people think he is to blame for Payne’s death.
Some critics have pointed the finger at the TV personality for putting too much pressure on the group and not lending support when they became massively successful.
“I don’t read any of this stuff because if I did, you would just torture yourself,” Cowell said while on the “Rolling Stone Music Now” podcast. “The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody’s life, 10 years after you’ve signed someone? You can’t do that.”
The “America’s Got Talent” host revealed he is still in contact with Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen.
They relayed to Cowell that their son had been “so proud of what he had achieved.”
“I wish I could turn back the clock, of course,” he added, noting that during their last conversation, “I felt really good about him.”
As Cowell put it: “I thought, ‘Wow, you seem in a really good place.’”
In October, Tomlinson said he didn’t place blame on anyone for the group’s grueling schedule during the height of their fame.
“Look, in any situation similar to this, hindsight is a really powerful thing,” he told The Independent at the time. “I don’t blame anyone for my experience in One Direction. Was it really hard work? Yes. Did we not have enough days off? Yes.”
Tomlinson called Payne’s death “something I’ll never really accept, I don’t think.”
“Liam would always entertain me. If I was bored and wanted to have a laugh, he would play that role,” he continued. “Any opportunity Liam got… he was always, always there for me. Even if he might have been struggling, he put himself second and still turned up. Those moments are really a testament to the truth of who he was as a person.”
Payne fractured his skull and died instantly of “very serious injuries” when he plunged from his third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on October 16, 2024.
An autopsy showed that he may have been unconscious when he fell.
According to the report, his cause of death was “polytrauma, internal and external hemorrhage” and the cranial brain injuries alone would have been enough to cause death. Additionally, he suffered internal and external hemorrhages in the skull, thorax, abdomen and limbs, which “contributed to the mechanism of death.”
After Payne’s death, sources claimed that the remaining One Direction members reevaluated their bond.
“[Liam’s death] was a wake-up call for all of them. Prior, they kept in touch sporadically but didn’t have close friendships at all,” an insider told Us Weekly at the time.
They added that the former bandmates had since pledged to mend their friendships.
“They’re all still mourning but are checking in on each other and feel closer than they have in years,” continued the source. “It brought them back together.”
After news of Payne’s passing, the band released a joint statement on their official Instagram band account.
“We’re completely devastated by the news of Liam’s passing. In time, and when everyone is able to, there will be more to say,” they penned. “But for now, we will take some time to grieve and process the loss of our brother, who we loved dearly. The memories we shared with him will be treasured forever. For now, our thoughts are with his family, his friends and the fans who loved him alongside us. We will miss him terribly. We love you Liam.”