America's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell says Liam Payne's death hit him like losing his father

America's Got Talent judge Simon Cowell says the moment he learned of Liam Payne’s death was “total shock,” describing it as a blow that mirrored the loss of his father.

The producer, who oversaw One Direction’s formation on The X Factor, recalled the news arriving while he was working in England.

The message reached him with the solemnity reserved for the gravest announcements, delivered by a colleague who, by his description, entered the room wearing a look he had seen only a few times in his life.

Liam Payne, 31, died in Buenos Aires in October 2024 after falling from a hotel balcony. Argentine police opened an investigation as tributes from around the world began pouring in, including from former bandmates Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik.

Cowell, long associated with the group’s early rise, responded in “The Interview” with host Lulu Garcia-Navarro, not with statements crafted for the press but with a depth of feeling that recalled earlier sorrows. 

In a comparison that requires no embellishment. He said,

“It's a bit like I felt when I heard the news about when my dad passed away.” 

America’s Got Talent: The weight of a sudden loss 

The news came at a time when Cowell was filming his Docuseries titled Simon Cowell: The Next Act.

He described how the information reached him with no dramatic staging, only quiet urgency. He did not attempt to soften the shock or to explain it further. He said,

“It's just a shock, total shock.”

He emphasised how difficult it was to think clearly at that point as he told his team,

“I really need to speak to his mom and dad.” 

This instinct, neither managerial nor performative, suggested his understanding of grief’s first law — that news of this magnitude belongs first to the family.

Cowell did not describe the conversation that followed, but made it clear that the impulse to reach the Paynes came from personal obligation rather than public position. He said, 

“As a parent, you know what that must have felt like.”

Cowell had seen Payne roughly a year before the singer’s death and described a meeting marked by good spirits.

Payne had recently been public about sobriety, gym routines, and recommitment to fatherhood.

Cowell remembered him walking into the room with a presence that suggested recovery rather than decline. 

“You look amazing,” he told him. They spoke about fitness, priorities, and the growing steadiness of adult life. Payne discussed his son.

Cowell spoke about balance. It was, by Cowell’s account, a warm conversation between two men no longer defined solely by their shared work.

Cowell’s reflection on Payne’s death reverberated through other corners of his professional life, including America’s Got Talent, which has become one of his longest-running responsibilities.

The show’s environment — unpredictable, noisy, and committed to celebrating newcomers — stands in contrast to the quiet in which the news arrived.

Yet Cowell noted that even within America’s Got Talent, reminders of the fragility of young talent have accumulated over the years.

He has spoken frequently about the responsibility that comes with discovering performers who may be thrust into public life sooner than they are ready.

Across the entertainment industry, Payne’s death reignited calls for improved mental-health support for rising performers.

Tributes from fans and fellow artists framed Payne not only as a member of one of the most commercially successful groups of the past two decades but as an individual whose life had navigated the sharp turns of public adoration, scrutiny, and personal struggle.

America’s Got Talent judge Simon Cowell’s words, unadorned and unstrategized, offered one of the clearest portrayals of the shock. 

Stay tuned for more updates.