18 July 2023 , 18:47
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Seven years after his last performance with One Direction, singer-songwriter Niall Horan admits he still faces "challenges" as a solo performer, as well as revealing how he books his tours.
The hitmaker who released his debut solo track, This Town in 2016 has performed across the globe to millions of fans since going it alone but festivals are something else for Niall.
Mullingar-born Niall, 29, recently sold-out his upcoming tour for his third solo album, The Show, which will see him take to the stage in arenas rather than smaller and more intimate venues. But as his solo success continues, he's now tackling festival crowds – something he hasn't done since his One Direction days.
Niall Horan has revealed he plans his tours around his love for golf (Redferns)Despite winning crowds over since bursting onto the music scene in 2010 as one-fifth of the chart-mauling group, Niall admits festivals are still a challenge for him.
Speaking to Sky Sports' Di Stewart at The Open Championship at the Royal Liverpool Golf Club in Hoylake, about his record, he said: "A lot of writing time, a lot of production time. A lot of just working harder and now I'm out doing festivals all summer.
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The hitmaker made a brief appearance at The Open Championship in Hoylake (Sky Sports)"I'm in the Czech Republic this week, I'm in Paris at the weekend. The festivals have been really fun because I've never done festivals before. I've usually just kind of done the promotional for the album and then headed out and tour but festivals is different because it's not just your crowd."
He went on to add: "It's your crowd and a mixture of everyone else," before Di asked: "Do you have to win them over?"
Niall responded: "Yeah, I see it as a challenge!" The musician, a keen golfer was attending the prestigious event representing his golf management company, Modest! Golf, with five of his players competing.
Niall recently performed at the Isle of Wight Festival (Redferns)
The Mullingar native will be back out on the road next year (Getty Images for Universal Music Group)Elsewhere on Sky Sports Golf, he revealed he plans his touring schedule around his love for golf. He said: "When I'm on tour, I play a lot but when I'm in promotional album cycle, I don't get to play as much as I'd like to. When we're on tour, I'm trying to play most days, the clubs go everywhere, they're under the tour bus. Depending on what city I'm in, I'll see what courses are around and most of the tour gets booked around golf – that's not even a lie."
But his journey to the Wirral was a flying trip as he revealed he was on a break from his role as a coach on The Voice US, as he divulged: "Doing The Voice at the moment, we've just started shooting the next season, season 24. It's myself, Gwen Stefani, John Legend and a country singer called Reba McEntire who is the queen of country music so it should be fun.
"I've already won one season so I'm looking to go back and do it all over again!" Discussing his technique for spinning his chair, Nialler added: "I wait, sometimes I'm the last person to turn because you have to be sure you want them on your team so you wait for it."