'We see his deep love for music': New series featuring late Liam Payne released by Netflix
Those are the words of Backstreet Boy AJ McLean in a special, albeit short, tribute to Liam Payne right at the start of Building the Band, a new Netflix series which features the late One Direction star.
McLean hosts the series, which has drawn criticism in recent months after bosses decided to go ahead and release the programme, less than a year after Liam's death.
The first three episodes were aired on Wednesday.
Appearing as a guest judge on the music reality show, Payne actually filmed some of the scenes just weeks before his death in October 2024.
Many questioned the taste and decency behind ploughing ahead with its planned broadcast, but it is apparent that Netflix has attempted to do some potentially insensitive, in the most sensitive way possible.
The 31-year-old featured heavily in the Building the Band trailer, with musicians competing against one another to form their own group.
The episodes are being released in batches and we understand Liam won't appear properly until Episode 7.
The star is said to have given insight into the triumphs and challenges of being in a band as well, as giving honest musical criticism to the artists. Netflix said that Payne's family "reviewed the series and is supportive of his inclusion".
His sisters have previously both posted on social media about the posthumous appearance of their brother. Nicole Payne wrote: 'Watching this over the past few months has given me/us a way to still feel close to you and see you at your best and I'm so glad the world gets to see it all now too."
While, Ruth Gibbons said: "There are a range of emotions I felt watching this, but one of the main ones is immeasurable pride always."
There would, of course, have been greater controversy around the series had Liam Payne's family been against its airing, but there will still be some who feel uneasy at the idea of his inclusion nearly nine months after his death.
Payne died after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina.
and 'internal and external haemorrhage' after falling from the third floor of the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires.
A court in Argentina dropped charges in February of criminal negligence against three out of the five people who had been charged in connection with his death.
In 2008, he auditioned for The X Factor as a 14-year-old, with judge Simon Cowell telling him to return to the talent show two years later.
In 2010, he impressed the judges before being put together with four other solo hopefuls - Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson - at the boot camp stage of the competition.
The group later became One Direction.
After his band went on hiatus in 2015, Payne released a debut solo album LP1 in December 2019, which included the songs Polaroid with Lennon Stella and Jonas Blue, and Strip That Down featuring Quavo, as well as the track For You with Rita Ora.
Payne had a son with former X Factor judge Cheryl Tweedy, with whom he was in a relationship between 2016 and 2018.
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