Harry Styles marked the second anniversary of Liam Payne’s death by playing a song he wrote for his former bandmate, performing the previously unheard ballad “What Is Enough” at Madison Square Garden on Friday, October 16, 2026, according to Billboard. On the same day, Payne’s girlfriend Kate Cassidy shared what she described as the final video she and Payne ever made together, Just Jared reported. Two years on, the people closest to Payne chose to remember him in public, each in their own way.
A song written two years ago
Styles is in the middle of a 30-night residency at Madison Square Garden as part of his Together, Together world tour, and Rolling Stone reported that Friday’s show included the live debut of “What Is Enough.” The date was not a coincidence.
Before playing it, Styles spoke directly to the sold-out crowd. “And two years ago today, I lost one of those friends,” he said, according to Billboard.
He went on, per TMZ: “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.”
Then came the introduction. “I’m gonna play you a song I wrote for my friend about two years ago, if that’s all right,” Styles said, as reported by Billboard.
E! News confirmed that the emotional ballad was performed in Payne’s honor during the October 16 concert. The song remains unreleased, and none of the outlets covering the show reported any announcement about whether or when it might come out.
The timing of its writing, roughly two years ago by Styles’ own account, places its origins close to the period immediately following Payne’s death.
Kate Cassidy’s final video
Kate Cassidy, who was in a relationship with Payne at the time of his death, chose the anniversary to post a throwback video on Instagram. Just Jared reported that the clip shows Payne lifting her into the air, and that Cassidy described it as their “last hour, our last video, our last moment together.”
“Forever grateful this was our last hour, our last video, our last moment together,” she wrote, according to Just Jared. “Until the next life, I’ll see you again one day.”
Us Weekly reported that Cassidy also shared photos of Payne on her Instagram Stories, writing: “2 years gone without you here but an eternity of memories. My handsome boy I love you!!!”
Cassidy had been vacationing in Argentina with Payne but returned to the United States days before his death. In an interview with The Sun published in February 2025, she said she regretted leaving.
How Liam Payne died
Payne died on October 16, 2024, at the age of 31, after falling from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
He had risen to fame alongside Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik as a member of One Direction, the group formed on The X Factor in 2010. The band became one of the most commercially successful acts of its era before the members went on to solo careers.
At the time of Payne’s death, Styles released a public statement calling him a close friend. “I am truly devastated by Liam’s passing,” he wrote, according to Rolling Stone. “His greatest joy was making other people happy, and it was an honour to be alongside him as he did it.” The same statement included the line “Liam lived wide open, with his heart on his sleeve.”
Styles has honored Payne before
Friday night was not the first time Styles has acknowledged Payne on stage during this tour. According to the Evening Standard, BBC, and Mirror, at the finale of a 12-night Wembley Stadium residency earlier in 2026, Styles named all four of his former One Direction bandmates, including “my dear friend Liam.” Payne’s parents, Geoff and Karen, his sister Ruth, and his nephew were in attendance for that show.
The Together, Together tour supports Styles’ fourth album, “Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.,” which was released on March 6, 2026. The Madison Square Garden residency runs through October 31, 2026, meaning Styles still has a stretch of New York dates ahead of him.
Whether “What Is Enough” becomes a regular part of the setlist, or stays a one-night tribute tied to the anniversary, has not been reported. For now, it exists as a single performance on a specific date, played for a friend Styles said he lost two years ago to the day.
For Cassidy, the anniversary was about a single hour and a single video, the last she has of the two of them together. For Styles, it was a song and a few quiet words to an arena about looking after each other. Both chose October 16 to say, publicly, that Liam Payne is still missed.
