Latest news with #You'reaStar
Yahoo
09-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Liam Payne Previewed New Music for AJ McLean Before His Death: ‘It Was a Great Body of Work'
AJ McLean is one of the few people who heard some of the music Liam Payne was working on prior to his death in October 2024. The Backstreet Boys member developed a close rapport with the One Direction singer while working on the Netflix series Building the Band. In a recent interview with Today, McLean detailed the songs Payne previewed for him that remain unreleased. '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
Extra.ie
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Extra.ie
Al Porter has had to learn to live with awful abuse
Comeback comedian Al Porter said he's learned to live with people who call him a 'pervert' and that he has rediscovered his love of performing as a stand-up comedian. In a wide-ranging interview with the Dubliner also insists that, following an extended spell in the wilderness, he does not care if TV and radio opportunities no longer come his way. And he said his on stage performance has matured with the years, and that he is no longer 'as camp as I used to be'. Porter, who is in a long-term relationship, said of his previous on-stage persona: 'In retrospect, I think some of it was kind of put on because you thought that's what was expected at the time. Or I think it was my age more than anything and my nervousness. Comeback comedian Al Porter said he's learned to live with people who call him a 'pervert' and that he has rediscovered his love of performing as a stand-up comedian. 'But listen, I'm still gay, there's no denying that, but maybe I've just toned things down.' Porter is back on the stand-up circuit following accusations of inappropriate behaviour from some of his colleagues on the comedy circuit. At the time, the Tallaght entertainer was at the very height of his fame. As well as his comedy gigs, he had TV and radio shows, a column in a national newspaper and there was even a Netflix special in the works. Then, in a matter of days, it was all gone. Porter's professional and personal life fell apart when she was accused of a sex attack dating back to late 2016. In November 2019, he walked free from court after a charge of sexually assaulting a young man at a Dublin venue was dropped. Al Porter. And now, six years on, an older and wiser Porter – whose real name is Alan Kavanagh – is a firm believer that: 'If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger'. He said it was during his spell in the 'wilderness' that he rediscovered 'what I really loved, and that was performing'. 'That's what I did when I was five, six, seven, years old, getting up and wanting to read poems. I would write poems to my class and entertain them and be wheeled from classroom to classroom as if I was the TV. 'So that's what I missed. I didn't miss TV. I didn't miss the radio. I didn't miss writing for newspapers.' He added that while he would 'consider' offers for media work, 'I am in no way yearning for it.' He told Extra: 'I'm not trying to prove anything. This is me… Alan Kavanagh is Al Porter. We're the same person. 'I found when my life fell apart, that people used to try and use the fact that Al Porter wasn't my real name, people tried to use that against me in a weird way, like almost, to try to suggest, l am false altogether.' The comedian said he decided to change his stage name to Porter because, 'when I was starting out there was a singer on [former RTÉ music competition series] You're a Star called Alan Kavanagh. So I chose the name Al Porter and I loved it. And I still like that name. I'm proud of it.' Porter candidly admits he is 'ashamed that I brought trouble onto that name and I dragged that name through the mud, fairly and unfairly'. But he said he never considered dropping his stage name or to even temporarily move abroad to start anew. 'People said to me, 'did you never think of going to Australia? Did you ever think of doing stand-up comedy in America and then coming home?' And I would say to them, 'I'm not in the business of running away,' like I'm not gonna change my name.' Al Porter. Pic: Sean Gallagher Photography Now firmly back on the stand-up circuit and playing to packed theatres, Porter said he has learned to live with criticism or hate that lingers on long after the scandal that turned his life upside down. 'Look, there might be some people who hear my name who go, 'Oh, him. Is he not a pervert?' And look, I can live with that. I truly believe that whatever happens, I'm going to have a good life. 'I do believe that if I continue on the track I'm on, it'll be more people than not that associate that name with more good than bad. 'That's one of the things I love about doing comedy now… I've never been freer because I'm like, 'well, you know, I've got nothing to lose and everything to give.' 'I mean, what could people write about me that they haven't already written?'
Irish Daily Mirror
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Daily Mirror
Lives of Donna and Joe McCaul now, 20 years after famous Eurovision appearance
It's been two decades since Donna and Joe McCaul flew the flag for Ireland in the Eurovision Song Contest. The brother and sister duo appeared at the 2005 contest in Kyiv in Ukraine after victory on the TV show You're a Star, performing their song, titled Love? Unfortunately, as has been the case for many of Ireland's recent Eurovision participants, Donna and Joe didn't make it through to the grand final and have since embarked on individual career paths, reports RSVP Live. In 2013, Donna relocated to Los Angeles, where she has lived ever since. She continues to sing and is a member of a group called Identity Theft The Band. Last year, she expressed her desire to grace the Eurovision stage once more, this time with her band. "I want to do it with the experience I got throughout the years, from doing music, different shows and learning about myself vocally and musically," she revealed to RSVP Live. "This time around, it would be writing my own song with my band. It's our own genre that we would want to bring to the stage." In 2017, Donna disclosed that she needed to undergo preventative cancer surgery in the US and set up a GoFundMe to help cover the costs, explaining that she required removal of cysts from her breasts and ovaries. In her fundraising appeal, she stated: "My doctors in the US said I need to get these operations done now rather than later. The breast surgery costs $21,000 and operation on my ovaries is another $21,000. I have to pay for scans as well, and that's how I came up with a $50,000 figure. "If people want to donate and help, I would be so grateful. It's 100 per cent for medical reasons. I would never make this appeal if I wasn't in a situation where I had do it." Joe McCaul has mostly retreated from the spotlight since his Eurovision appearance but remains dedicated to music through teaching. The vocalist made a name for himself with a stint on The X Factor in 2015, progressing as far as bootcamp and the Six Chair Challenge before he was eliminated. Joe has also had to deal with some health issues and opened up about his multiple sclerosis diagnosis in 2014. "My world crumbled around me," he told the Irish Independent. "I was crying and the doctors just left me be." "When I got the news nothing made any sense. I couldn't see a life for myself. When I think MS I only see a wheelchair. I'm still coming to terms with it," he said at the time. "I can either lie down under it or get up and go. When people say to me, but you've got MS, I say, MS hasn't got me. I love to party and I'm living for now. I'm not thinking about what next year has to offer." Last year, Donna told RSVP Live that once was enough for Joe as far as the Eurovision is concerned but that her brother is a constant source of support. "Joe has stepped back from that. He's teaching music in a college in Dublin," she said. "I don't think he has any interest in going back. I think the first time was enough for him. "He's very supportive. He always says, 'Go for it. It's your dream'."
