One Direction member Liam Payne died in October 2024 after falling from the balcony of his hotel in Argentina; toxicology reports revealed he had a number of substances in his system at the time of his death. Simon Cowell, who helped launch One Direction to stardom on the U.K. version of The X Factor, tells the Rolling Stone Music Now podcast that the news “really hit me.” Simon says the last time he saw Liam, he thought he was “in a really good place.”
“I saw him a year before this happened. He came over to my house. We talked about his son and being a dad. I remember saying, ‘Music is not everything. Don’t let it run your life anymore. Find something else that you are passionate about,’” Simon recalls.
“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?’” Simon continued. “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.’”
Asked about the blame he received in the media after Liam’s death, Simon says, “The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody’s life, 10 years after you’ve signed someone? You can’t do that.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Simon says that he wished the finale of the first season of America Idol had been a choice between Kelly Clarkson and Tamyra Grey, not Justin Guarini. He claimed Justin “would be the first to admit [to] himself” that he wasn’t good enough to go up against Kelly.
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