The globally successful band that included Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik were first formed on Cowell's reality show, 'The X-Factor', in 2010.

Simon Cowell recalled a special moment with Liam Payne that occurred a year before the former One Direction member’s death. “You came to see me last year. Not for a meeting. Just to sit and talk. And we reminisced about all the fun times we had together.

On Friday, Simon Cowell released a statement regarding Liam Payne's death. Liam, a former member of One Direction, died on Oct. 16 in Buenos Aires, Argentina, at the age of 31. The Associated Press reported that the singer died after falling from a third-floor balcony of the Casa Sur Hotel in the Palermo neighborhood of the capital.