Teary Harry Styles debuts unreleased song he wrote in tribute to Liam Payne on the two year anniversary of his death at his New York concert

Published: 09:24 BST, 17 October 2026 | Updated: 09:33 BST, 17 October 2026

Harry Styles looked emotional as he shared an unreleased song he wrote for his late One Direction bandmate Liam Payne on the two-year anniversary of his death.

The British singer, 32, performed the song in public for the first time to fans at his Madison Square Garden residency on Friday evening.

Before beginning the song, he told the crowd: 'I feel incredibly lucky to get to play these shows here in New York, and this building means a lot to me.'

'There are so many people in my life, friends and people that I've worked with that I wouldn't have been able to do this without. And two years ago today, I lost one of those friends.'

Liam, who rose to fame alongside Harry, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik in the globally successful band, died aged 31 from his injuries after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires.

Continuing his speech about Liam, Harry said: 'I'm sure a lot of you have been through similar things. I hope you haven't. But really, it's just about looking after each other.'

Harry Styles looked emotional as he shared an unreleased song he wrote for his late One Direction bandmate Liam Payne on the two year anniversary of his death

Liam, who rose to fame alongside Harry, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik in the globally successful band, died aged 31 from his injuries after falling from the balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires

'So many people who have touched my life in such special ways. I wouldn't be here without. I'm gonna play you a song I wrote for my friend about two years ago, if that's all right.'

Harry then debuted the song, which he revealed is titled What Is Enough, and includes the lyrics  'I could tell you what it’s like, to bury a friend on a Wednesday night gathered in the garden around a fire.'

Liam's funeral was on Wednesday, November 20 and attended by all of his former bandmates, as well as the mother of his son Bear, Cheryl.

Earlier this year at a gig in Amsterdam, Harry opened up about the 'difficult' past few years where he 'lost friends'.

Speaking on stage during one live performance, Harry spoke about his time away from the spotlight in the last few years, saying: 'There are some wonderful things that happened to me and there were some difficult things that happened to me.

'I lost some friends over the last couple of years. For me having some time to let these big moments happen I have realised how fragile, beautiful, wonderful, hard, gross, inspiring all of the things life can be.' 

He concluded by saying: 'I hope being in this room together tonight, we can create some good energy together.'

Harry previously spoke to DJ Zane Lowe about how Liam's death affected him. 

Liam's funeral was on Wednesday November 20 and attended by all of his former bandmates, as well as the mother of his son Bear, Cheryl (seen on The X Factor with Zayn Malik and Harry in 2013)

He said: 'It's so difficult to lose a friend. It's difficult to lose any friend, but it's so difficult to lose a friend who is so like you in so many ways. 

'I think there was a period when he passed away where I really struggled with acknowledging how strange it is to have people own part of your grief in a way.'

He went on: 'I have such strong feelings around my friend passing away. And then suddenly being aware of a desire from other people of you to convey that in some way, or it means you're not feeling what you're feeling, you know?'

Harry then sweetly added of Liam: 'I saw someone with the kindest heart who just wanted to be great. What happened was a really important moment for me in terms of taking a look at my life and being able to say to myself, 'OK, what do I want to do with my life?

'How do I want to live my life?' And I think the greatest way you can honour your friends who pass away is by living your life to the fullest.'