Boy George expressed regret over comments he made about Liam Payne’s mental health and addiction struggles.

Kulturklubben’s frontman spoke candidly on the “High Performance” podcast. Wednesday about sentencing Payne after seeing a video of him just days before the death of the former One Direction member.

“I had actually put a message under a post that said ‘He’s totally crazy’, which wasn’t very nice, but I felt it. I felt he was out of control,” George, 63, told hosts Jake Humphrey and Damian Hughes.

“And when (his death) happened it just hit me. The same way Amy Winehouse hit me because it felt so pointless,” he continued, referring to the “Rehab” singer, who died of alcohol poisoning on July 23, 2011, aged 27.

The “Karma Chameleon” crooner described learning of Payne’s death on “the US news” days after making the comment.

“I was literally like, ‘What the hell?’ I was literally like, ‘No, this is not true.'” I couldn’t take it in, and I think everybody felt that,” he said.

George – whose real name is George Alan O’Dowd – went on to say: “I looked at the dad (Geoff Payne), and it was heartbreaking. I was quite teary-eyed about it. I felt really sad.”

The music icon has been sober since 2008 after suffering a heroin addiction. He also battled intense panic attacks and anxiety after finding success with Culture Club in the 1980s.

George’s interview was released shortly after Liam’s funeral in the UK. Among the guests were his former One Direction bandmatesLouis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Niall Horan.

Simon Cowell, who co-founded the boy band in 2010, was also at the serviceas well as the mother of Liam’s 7-year-old son, Bear, Cheryl Coleand his girlfriend, Kate Cassidy.

Liam died on 16 October following falling from the balcony of his third floor hotel room in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He was 31.

A toxicology report revealed he was under the influence of several drugs — including crack, cocaine and a depressant — at the time of his death. His autopsy also said that he suffered from internal and external bleeding as well as a cranial fracture.

Three people have since been charged with Liam’s deathincluding an alleged drug dealer, a hotel employee and one Argentinian businessman who introduced himself as his boss.

The employee and the alleged dealer have been charged with supplying the late singer with drugs, while the businessman was charged with abandonment and faces five to 15 years in prison.

If you or someone you care about is affected by any of the issues discussed in this story, call SAMHSA’s National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357).