Liam Payne Previewed New Music for AJ McLean Before His Death: ‘It Was a Great Body of Work'
'He was just an absolute sweetheart, witty, funny. He sent me an unreleased body of work to get my opinion on it — and I never put that out there,' McLean said. 'I thought that was really sweet that he would entrust someone that he's still learning about to give their opinion.' He added, 'I thought it was a great body of work. And I hope that the world and that the fans get to hear it somewhere down the road. It's beautiful, beautiful music.'
More from Rolling Stone
Liam Payne's Sister Praises His Performance in 'Building the Band': 'You're a Star'
'Building the Band' to Premiere This Summer After Liam Payne Family Approves Footage
'Larger Than Life' Meets 'Life Is a Highway': Backstreet Boys, Rascal Flatts Unite at ACMs
Payne released the single 'Teardrops' in March 2024, which was meant to appear on his second studio album. Another boyband member, 'NSYNC's JC Chasez, served as a collaborator on the song. 'This album literally is that whole last year for me. How I was feeling on those days is each record. It was a snapshot of that day,' Payne said prior to the single release. 'So you can even help someone through a tough time, help somebody celebrate something. That's really what I want to get across in this record and that's the best part I guess about my job.'
'Teardrops' ultimately became Payne's final music release. The musician died on Oct. 16 at the age of 31 from injuries sustained after falling from the balcony of his hotel room. Less than two weeks after his death, the musician Sam Pounds announced and later postponed plans to release their collaboration 'Do No Wrong,' saying, 'It's not the time yet.'
Next week's premiere of Making the Band will mark Payne's first posthumous appearance. Netflix previously paused production on the series given his involvement as a judge. The show will be released in three parts this month. The first four episodes will be available on July 9, with three more dropping on July 16, and the final set on July 23.
'I had known him prior to the show, but not as close as we got,' McLean, who hosts the show, said. 'Obviously, we're with each other 12 to 14 hour days for about five weeks, you do learn a lot about someone.' Earlier this year, McLean told Rolling Stone he 'immediately connected' with Payne 'on not only a music level but a human level,' adding, 'We both were living a parallel life. There was a lot of funny boy-band jabs that we would take at each other. He really had a quick wit to him — that nice, dry, British humor.'
McLean described Payne as 'well spoken, very supportive, rigorously honest, in a compassionate way,' adding that he 'always spoke from the heart.'
Last week, Payne's sister Ruth Gibbins celebrated his performance in Building the Band after the series trailer was released. 'I didn't know whether to share this but it felt weird when I've raved about Liam's work and achievements for the last 15 years,' she wrote on Instagram. 'Im heartbroken he never got to see how great he is in this show. He knew he had done a good job, we all told him this when we were at filming, but watching it back, wow.'
She added: 'You're a star Liam, you always were and always will be. There are a range of emotions I felt watching this, but one of the main ones is immeasurable pride, always. Miss you more every day.'
Best of Rolling Stone
Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs
The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs
All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Meghan Markle and Prince Harry's $100 million Netflix deal won't be renewed: Report
Several reports indicate that the streaming giant will let the couple's deal expire later in 2025. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's $100 million deal with Netflix will not be renewed when it expires later this year, according to several reports. The couple signed the contract in 2020, but it will not be extended beyond 2025, a Hollywood insider tells Entertainment Weekly's sister publication PEOPLE. The move reflects "a shift in Netflix's broader business strategy," according to the outlet. An anonymous source also told The Sun that "there's no animosity from either side," and that "things have just run their course."EW has reached out to representatives for Netflix and the couple for comment. Markle and Prince Harry released a a handful of non-fiction projects on the streaming giant. The impending end of the deal will reportedly not impact the rollout of season 2 of Markle's lifestyle docuseries With Love, Meghan, which premiered in March and ran for eight episodes, featuring celebrity guests like Mindy Kaling and Abigail Spencer joining the Duchess of Sussex at her home and in her kitchen. In addition to With Love, Meghan, Netflix also rolled out the Liz Garbus-directed Harry & Meghan docuseries in 2022, which included six episodes revolving around the duo's life in the United States after stepping back from their duties as senior members of the British royal family. The couple formed their Archewell Productions company after announcing their decision to leave the royal family in January 2020, with the pair signing their deal with Netflix that September. Other Archewell projects at Netflix included Live to Lead, Heart of Invictus, and Polo. "Our focus will be on creating content that informs but also gives hope," the couple said at the time in a statement to the New York Times. "As new parents, making inspirational family programming is also important to us." They added that Netflix's 'unprecedented reach" to subscribers will assist in their mission to "share impactful content that unlocks action." Their foray into entertainment wasn't entirely well received, however, with The View cohost Ana Navarro admitting on the air during a March broadcast that "some people like her, some people hate her, some people don't care," looking toward the camera while motioning toward herself. Former View cohost and conservative political commentator Meghan McCain also slammed Markle over With Love, Meghan, calling the series out of touch with audiences that Markle was attempting to reach with the show. 'I cannot stand her. I love people that I can relate to, like every other 40-year-old mom. I don't want to eat her jam,' McCain said on her digital talk series. 'I don't know what she's doing. This is like her ninth rebrand. I actually had to review her show and her podcast, and it was horrible. It was so boring." Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly Solve the daily Crossword


USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Prince Royce runs on 'old-school' workouts, video games and action TV
In USA TODAY's The Essentials, celebrities share what fuels their lives, whether it's at home, on set, or on the road. As far as Prince Royce is concerned, the mark of a great song is that it "lasts a lifetime." The multiplatinum Latin pop star, who broke out in the early 2010s with his charming bilingual rendition of the Ben E. King classic "Stand by Me," is tipping his hat to the greats once more on his latest album "Eterno" (out now). The singer reimagines pop standards from the likes of Elvis Presley, the Bee Gees, Backstreet Boys and others with his signature bachata style. But for Royce, it's about more than just throwback jams: "As an artist ... you want to put out music that could go through generations and that can fit in other genres and rhythms and hopefully can just cross the globe." Royce, who grew up in a Dominican family in New York City, says these tropical-infused covers not only "show love and respect" to the original hits but also allow him to share a slice of his bicultural heritage with fans of varying backgrounds. "I grew up listening to American music, but I also grew up listening to Latin music in Spanish and English, and that's just my upbringing, all these rhythms in one place," Royce, 36, says. "And I kind of can bring that mix of my upbringing to (Dominican Republic), to American people, to people who know both languages." Music isn't the only esencial in Royce's life. The singer dishes on some of his beloved staples, from video games and daily workouts to action-packed TV. Prince Royce stays fit with 'old-school' workouts, 'sweet' dog Ruby Who needs a gym buddy when you have man's best friend? Royce stays in shape with a series of daily workouts that span "old-school" weight training with metal free weights to outdoor runs and golfing. As for warming up, the singer gets his blood pumping with morning walks with his Belgian Malinois dog Ruby. "The physical aspect just forces me to be healthier, to wake up early," says Royce of his exercise regimen. "Subconsciously, I wouldn't stay out drinking all night because I know I got to walk my dog and go to the gym, get up early and grind." Royce, who's "never really been that much of a dog person," gushes about his canine pal. "It's like a military dog," he says with a laugh. "She's like 70 pounds. It's my first big dog, but she's a sweet girl." "Originally, it was more like, 'let's get a dog to protect the house' type of vibe," Royce adds. "We kind of got lucky. … We read all these things online that said Belgian Malinois are crazy and they'll eat up everything in the house, but she's been good so far." 10 bingeable memoirs to check out: Celebrities tell all about aging, marriage and Beyoncé Prince Royce is all about the action for gaming, TV faves Royce doesn't play when it comes to his screen time. A self-described "big gamer," Royce often turns to video games as a travel pastime during long flights and hotel stays. Some of his favorites include the action franchises Call of Duty ("It's always the game that never ends") and Assassin's Creed. The singer's love of gaming extends beyond the console. When it comes to TV, Royce has been watching video game adaptations such as "The Last of Us" and "Fallout," with the latter blowing him away with its faithfulness to the game. "The way that they would play classical music while they're blowing something up and people are getting shot up, that's how the game actually was,' he says. "Those things kind of hype me up." Additionally, the Prime Video series' canine protagonist CX404, a Belgian Malinois, was the catalyst for Royce getting his dog Ruby. "It's also the same dog from 'John Wick,' and I like 'John Wick,' too. So then when I saw it in 'Fallout,' I'm like, 'That's it. I'm getting the badass dog.'" Prince Royce is grooving to deep house and this Drake album For Royce, there doesn't have to be a party to keep the beat going. The "Stuck on a Feeling" hitmaker has been listening to the pulsating grooves of deep house, a subgenre of house music known for its ambient and soul influences. "I've always liked it," Royce says, adding that the genre is perfect for "chilling by the pool on a Sunday or on a boat or just at home." "It's kind of chill vibes but still up-tempo." Royce's playlist is also bumping with Bad Bunny's reggaeton banger "Velda," taken from his latest album "Debi Tirar Mas Fotos," as well as the Drake and PartyNextDoor collaboration record "$ome $exy $ongs 4 U." "I'm a big Drake fan in general," he says. "That album was pretty cool." Prince Royce nerds out with self-help books, documentaries Royce isn't one for passive entertainment, whether it's the pages of a book or his channel-surfing destinations. The Latin Grammy-nominated singer recently finished reading "Be Water, My Friend: The Teachings of Bruce Lee" by Shannon Lee, a self-help biography he says he appreciated for its "motivational" exploration of the late martial arts icon's Zen philosophy: "You put water in a cup, and it just transforms into whatever shape of that cup. It kind of molds into whatever situation." "If I'm going to listen to something, or if I'm going to read something, I really hope that I'm reading something that can make me a better person or better my business or family," Royce says. Royce's thirst for knowledge also influences his viewing choices, citing documentaries as a favorite film genre. "I like learning something," he says. "I'll watch random animal documentaries on the History Channel or something, and those things sometimes interest me more than regular movies."


Time Magazine
2 hours ago
- Time Magazine
Breaking Down the Cliffhanger Finale of 'The Hunting Wives'
If you've decided to spend the hot summer days journeying to the heart of Texas by binge-watching all eight episodes of The Hunting Wives, you're not alone. And, if you've made it all the way to the end of the show and have questions about the big finale, you're also not alone. Adapted from May Cobb's novel, Netflix's The Hunting Wives has it all: buried secrets, open-carry guns, bisexual affairs, kidnapped teens, questionable parenting, swinging politicians, and corrupt clergy. The show, which TIME's critic described as 'the wildest, silliest, and soapiest wife show ever made,' is such addictive fun that it's easy to go with the Netflix flow and let the episodes roll. By the time the credits appear on the final episode, though, there may be a few bigger questions to answer. We're here to help. The show starts when Sophie (Brittany Snow), her husband Graham (Evan Jonigkeit), and their young son arrive in the Lone Star State with liberal ideas, a Tesla, and the hope of a new start. Graham is there to start a job working for Jed Banks (Dermot Mulroney), one of the most powerful men in Texas. His socialite wife, Margo (Malin Akerman), quickly takes Sophie under her wing, introducing the wide-eyed waif to her gaggle of girlfriends, including Jill (Katie Lowes), the wife of the megachurch's reverend, and Callie (Jaime Ray Newman), the sheriff's wife. Soon, they have the sober, non-driving, gun-hating, Cambridge girl with a dark past downing tequila shots, doing donuts in the parking lot, shooting a boar, having hot extramarital sex with Margo, and, ominously enough, buying a gun. It's all fun fun fun until a high school girl, Abby (Madison Wolfe) turns up dead in the woods. Turns out that Abby was dating Jill's son, Brad (George Ferrier), and it's revealed that not only did she no longer have her purity ring on, but Sophie's gun is identified as the murder weapon. Despite the clear lack of motive (she didn't even know the girl!), Sophie becomes the prime suspect in the murder. Now shunned by her new friends and her truly terrible husband, Sophie sets out to find the real killer. Along the way, she unearths some of the town's darkest secrets. The Hunting Wives finale brings everything to a head In the last episode, titled 'Sophie's Choice,' the clues and the bodies start piling up, and Sophie, the political PR-turned-girl-detective, realizes that the real killer has been right in front of her the whole time. She just didn't want to see it. The big clue? It all started in the ladies' room. Back to that in a minute. The show did a good job with the build-up, because in Episode 7, the penultimate episode, it felt like the crime had been solved when youth Pastor Pete (Paul Teal) was busted for preying on his flock. He kidnapped one young woman and was behind the disappearance of another missing girl mentioned earlier in the season. He even gave Abby a ride to a party on the night she died and he had her sweater in his car. But though he looked guilty as hell, but he did not kill Abby. The other false lead was Brad's mom, Jill. She openly disliked her son's girlfriend, calling the girl a gold-digger and accusing her of leading her precious boy down a path of fornication and sin. She acted very suspiciously, too, wiping her GPS, changing all her passwords, and furiously cleaning one spot on her car. She was also downright eager to provide Brad with an alibi for the night of the murder, which just so happened to give her an alibi, too. Jill looked even more guilty after Pastor Pete told Sophie that Brad had confided in him that he had gotten his girlfriend pregnant and she had gotten an abortion, despite the difficulty accessing one in Deep Red Pro-Life Texas. Even her own son started to suspect the good pastor's wife when it was revealed that she was one of Abby's last outgoing calls—and she happened to have Abby's phone. Sophie believed Jill found out about the abortion and killed Abby to keep her quiet. However, it's revealed that Jill didn't do it either. Why she wiped her GPS and passwords and what she was doing the night of the murder is unclear, but she didn't kill Abby— and soon wound up dead herself. Her death meant Sophie was cleared of the crime and was finally out of jail. Who really killed Abby? Sophie goes back to her life as best she can, including reconnecting with Margo—and finding out what really happened to Abby. What finally cracks the case for Sophie, though, was an offhand remark Margo made to Sophie in the very first episode of the series. The two women first met when Sophie walked in on Margo in the bathroom, digging through the cabinet looking for a menstrual pad. Sophie offered her a tampon, but Margo explained she couldn't use one of those. That comment came back to haunt her, though, because after a long, lusty round of afternoon delight in the bedroom, Sophie uses Margo's bathroom. She is hunting through the drawers looking for some lotion, when she happens upon a box of tampons. Margo denies having ever said she couldn't use tampons, but Sophie remembers it perfectly. Since Sophie is already on high alert because Margo herself has already betrayed her, and Margo's friends had her jailed, she bolts. The moment she is alone, Sophie researches why someone might not be able to use a tampon, including one spicy little item: 'after having an abortion.' Sophie quickly realizes that her friend-turned-lover has been lying to her. Margo has been having an affair with Brad, Jill's son, and Sophie realizes that it wasn't Abby who had the abortion that Pastor Pete mentioned, but Brad's other girlfriend, Margo. When Margo found out she was pregnant with her teenage boyfriend's baby, she had returned to her own dark past for help. Specifically, Margo née Mandy had gone to her biological father for assistance. As a doctor, he not only terminated Margo's pregnancy (despite Texas state law), but also provided her an alibi, claiming that Margo was with him at her brother's near-death bed on the night of the murder. Sophie gets the doctor to admit he lied and then gets Brad to corroborate the pregnancy story. She then goes to confront Margo about her many crimes. To her credit, Margo quickly admits them all. She explains that when a furious Abby confronted her about the affair, pregnancy, and abortion, Margo grabbed the nearest gun—Sophie's—and killed Abby. She then let Sophie take the fall, because she didn't want to jeopardize her husband's run for governor and wanted the beautiful new life she had built for herself to continue. Unsurprisingly, Sophie is unimpressed with Margo's reasoning. Similarly, when Margo tries to tell her husband the truth about it all, he chucks her out of the house. After all, he had already helped her overcome her past as an escort, given her a life as a rich swinger, and was about to make her the first lady of Texas. While killing an innocent young woman was bad, it seems sleeping with another man was the bridge too far for this relationship. Despite murdering a girl and obstructing justice, Margo is not overly concerned about being jailed. She had gone to talk to her drug-addicted brother Kyle (Michael Aaron Milligan) and he told her to get her head on straight. After all, her sometimes-bestie and sometimes-lover Callie is married to the sheriff and he and the DA have closed the case, blaming Jill for the crime, so Margo has nothing to worry about. Plus, Kyle has decided to take care of Sophie for her. He tries to run Sophie off the road and winds up on the highway in front of her car, threatening her with a gun. That's when Sophie hits the gas, and Kyle dies on the hood of her car. The season ends with Sophie dragging Kyle's body through the woods and to the edge of a cliff, dropping it in the water below. Before his body disappears into the water, though, Sophie accidentally answers his phone. It's Margo. Sophie doesn't say anything and instead just breathes heavily on the line. Margo knows something has gone very wrong and Sophie is undoubtedly really wishing she had stayed in Boston. As Kyle's body goes over the cliff, viewers are left to wonder, is this an actual cliffhanger? Is a second season of this Texas soap opera on its way? It's up to Netflix now.