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Simon Cowellsays the death ofLiam Payne"really hit" him.
After all, he was a judge onThe X FactorUK in 2010, from which Payne's groupOne Directionemerged. The judges decided to put several contestants together — Payne, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik — rather than allow them to compete as individuals.
The group famously went on to be enormously successful, but took an indefinite hiatus in 2016, and the members pursued solo projects.
Paynedied on Oct. 16, 2024, after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he had traveled to attend Horan's concert. Authorities toldEntertainment Weeklyat the time that the singer "jumped from the balconyof his room." He was 31.
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"I saw him a year before this happened. He came over to my house. We talked about his son and being a dad,"Cowell said in aRolling StoneMusic Now podcastinterview published Monday (listen below). "I remember saying, 'Music is not everything. Don't let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are passionate about.'"
"Cowell continued, You ask yourself that question: 'Could I have done anything more? What would've happened to Liam if he hadn't been in the band?' Having spoken to his mom and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course. When I spoke to him that day, I felt really good about him. I thought, 'Wow, you seem in a really good place.'"
He addressed a question of whether it was hurtful that some people had blamed him.
"I don't read any of this stuff because if I did, you would just torture yourself," Cowell said. "The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody's life, 10 years after you've signed someone? You can't do that."
Cowell wasopenly upsetwhen Payne died.
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"You never really know how you feel about someone until a moment like this happens," Cowellwroteon social media. "Liam, I am truly devastated. Heartbroken. And I feel empty. And I want you to know how much love and respect I have for you. Every tear I have shed is a memory of you."
He said it was hard to express what he was feeling.
"I went outside today, and I thought about so many times we had together," theAmerica's Got Talentjudge wrote. "I wanted to let you know what I would always say to the thousands of people who would always ask me. What is Liam like? And I would tell them you were kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused. And how much you loved music. And how much love you genuinely had for the fans."
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