Niall Horan plays emotional audio from late Liam Payne on stage

Niall Horan fans were left in tears last night (22 September) as he played an emotional recording from his late former band mate.

The Irish singer was performing the opening night of his Dinner Party Live on Tour in Birmingham when Liam Payne’s voice filled the Utilita Arena.

The singer, who was born nearby in Wolverhampton, died on 16 October 2024 at the age of 31 after falling from a third-floor balcony at a hotel while intoxicated.

Payne and Horan of course spent six years working together in One Direction, one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, which formed on The X Factor.

And the audio played last night reflected on their success as the late star reflected on the ‘amazing’ rise the band experienced.

Viral footage online shows the audio playing at the end of Horan’s fourth solo album’s closing track, ‘End of an Era’.

The song was already written as a musical tribute to his late friend, having originally started writing it years ago. But following Payne’s death in 2024, Horan revised and rewrote it, having found it ‘therapeutic’ to do.

Finishing the performance of the song, the star stepped back from the mic and into the dark, placed his hands behind his back and looked upwards as the instrumental continued.

Payne’s voice could then be heard as he said: “We thought something might happen, but never anything like this.

“I’m always trying to remind myself of where I’ve come from and where I’ve managed to get to in my life.

“It’s amazing, really.”

Silence fell as the crowd realised it was audio from Payne before cheers erupted with fans in tears at the emotional moment.

“I wasn’t expecting to hear Liam’s voice and I feel so saaaaaaad right now. Blessed is Niall for honouring and keeping his memory alive among us,” one fan wrote on X, in response to a video originally posted by @_withgems.

“Niall this is gonna break me,” a second wrote as another said: “What a beautiful tribute.”

“That hurt me so much when I heard his voice,” a fourth put while others wrote: “I’d be bawling my eyes out.”

When it came to rewriting ‘End of an Era’ for Payne, Horan told etalk it only took him 10 minutes as he’s ‘gotten to the point where I knew what I wanted to say’.

"It's kind of like a mixture in the song," he explained. "It's a sad song and it's nostalgic and it's got a bit of both in it."

He wanted the two emotions of it being 'very sad' but having 'very happy memories' to be captured in 'End of an Era'.

"And it had to feel uplifting as well," Horan added.

During last night's concert, the star also sang One Direction's hit 'Steal My Girl' as fans reminisced on those good old days. Directioners forever.