Today's guest came up in the biggest band in the world at seventeen, watched it pause at twenty-two, and built a solo career almost no one in his position has ever managed to sustain. From success, to tragedy, and back... This Irishman makes his triumphant return to the stage and our hearts with 'Dinner Party'.

And The Writer Is... Niall Horan!

He talks about Liam not as a tribute beat, but as a presence — what fires you up to walk on stage when somebody you love would still want to be there. After the band, after the loss, after four albums — who do you become?

In this episode of And The Writer Is, we go deep on:

- Coming off the 2024 tour that sold over a million arena tickets "without a big smash hit of the show"

- The twelve-week Southeast Asia backpacking trip that came right before "This Town"

- The story of songs like 'Heaven', 'Slow Hands', 'This Town', and Liam's song...

- Pushing One Direction's sound from "What Makes You Beautiful" toward "Story Of My Life"

- Going solo at twenty-three and being terrified the music was about to end

- Julian Bunetta's intervention on "End Of An Era": "this song is about Liam, we just don't know it yet"

- "Dinner Party," the new album, and the next world tour

Hit subscribe and turn on notifications. Every week, we go deep with the most interesting creatives in music.

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A special thank you to our sponsors for making these conversations possible.

Our lead sponsor, NMPA — the National Music Publishers' Association. Your support means the world to us.

0:00 Intro

1:12 Straight back to the studio after the 2024 arena tour

2:13 Over a million tickets sold in 2024 — "and I just wasn't expecting it"

3:23 Meeting on the One Direction tour years ago — abandoned buildings, makeshift studios, 200 fans outside within the hour

5:46 The post-show ritual: shower, shorts, Netflix, no drinking

9:20 Concerts as events now — the fans build it before he arrives

10:08 "I grew up on Slow Hands" — Sombr and the new guard

14:34 Why the Irish footprint is so big — and why Irish men can't say it out loud

17:16 First concert was the Eagles at four — and his mom's Hotel California vinyl

18:44 How Niall's listening drove One Direction's sound toward "Story Of My Life"

24:58 Savan Kotecha asks: sticking to your guns when every era says chase the trend

27:43 "I don't think I'd be able to sell something else that doesn't come from me"

34:34 Going solo at twenty-three — and being terrified it was all going to end

35:32 How watching the other boys release first actually fired him up

40:05 "You can't chase Slow Hands" — the law Niall heard John Ryan name on this podcast

45:15 Why he went backpacking through Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and the Philippines after the band

46:39 Why Slow Hands taking twenty weeks to #1 was actually the goal

56:11 "The minute you think you're a household name, it's game over"

57:03 What The Voice actually did to his crowd

66:55 "Heartbreak Weather" — wanting to be the song that stands out, even at the cost of being safe

75:09 Writing Heaven at 1am in Joshua Tree — and John Ryan about to walk away

80:53 Liam Payne, and the song that wrote itself in five minutes once Julian said the thing nobody was saying

89:02 The lowest moment of his career — and it's not what you'd guess

93:36 The waterfall effect — the people you surround yourself with

Credits:

Hosted by Ross Golan

Produced by Joe London & Jad Saad

Edited by Jad Saad

Post-Production VFX by Pratik Karki

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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