LOS ANGELES — Simon Cowell, renowned for his role as a British record executive and his judging position on “America’s Got Talent,” recently shared insights from his final conversation with Liam Payne, a year after the singer’s untimely death.

“The news was a shock to me. I had seen him just a year prior to this tragedy,” Cowell revealed during an episode of the “Rolling Stone Music Now” podcast released on November 24.

Cowell, instrumental in the formation of One Direction—a group that also featured Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan—reminisced about his last meeting with Payne.

“Our last encounter was a year before his passing when he visited my home. We discussed his role as a father and his son. I advised him, saying, ‘Music doesn’t have to consume you. Discover other passions,’” Cowell shared with Rolling Stone. “During that conversation, I had a strong sense that he was in a positive state of mind. I remember thinking, ‘You really seem to be in a good place.’”

He wonders if things would have been different had Payne never been signed into the boy band. 

“You ask yourself that question ‘Could I have done anything more?  What would’ve happened to Liam if he hadn’t been in the band?’” he recalled. “Having spoken to his mom and dad recently, all they kept telling me was he was so proud of what he had achieved. I wish I could turn back the clock, of course.”

He said he avoids reading online discourse and suggestions that he’s to blame, calling it “torture.” 

“The idea that you are essentially responsible for somebody’s life, 10 years after you’ve signed someone? You can’t do that,” he said. 

Cowell posted to social media remembering Payne shortly after his death. He described Payne as “kind, funny, sweet, thoughtful, talented, humble, focused.”

He was also among former bandmates, friends and family at Payne’s memorial.

Payne fell from a third-floor hotel balcony in Buenos Aires last October. A toxicology report from tests taken after an autopsy revealed he had alcohol, cocaine and a prescription antidepressant in his system.

In February, a court in Argentina dropped charges of criminal negligence against three of the five people indicted in connection with his death, according to The Associated Press. 

The remaining two people face prosecution on charges that they supplied the famed British boyband star with narcotics.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.