Nine months after Liam Payne died at age 31, his still-grieving fans can find a beacon of light in a new clip shared by Building the Band, the Netflix reality competition series the One Direction star filmed before his tragic death.
In the clip, “What Makes You Beautiful” — the 2011 breakthrough hit for the X Factor-formed boy band One Direction — plays in the studio while Payne films with the Breaking the Band judging panel in front of a live audience. Payne gives a sly smile and taps his fingers as the crowd passionately sings along to the upbeat smash before standing up out of his chair to rapturous applause and beginning to perform the song onstage. The best part: You can hear Payne clearly singing his baritone part in the song’s five-part harmony, just like he did for all those years with One Direction.
For the post-chorus “na-na-na’s,” Payne stops resisting the urge to join in on the crowd’s dance party, making his way down the stairs and into the audience to sing arm-in-arm with a group of fans who know every word. He weaves his way through the crowd, high-fiving everyone he passes, until he’s back onstage for the big finale.
“Let’s go, Liam!” cheers fellow judge Nicole Scherzinger, who — along with third judge Kelly Rowland — was clapping and singing along the whole time. When Payne returns to his chair, he looks ahead with a big smile and says, “That was so fun.” It’s a beyond-sweet moment that can offer a minor bit of comfort to Directioners that Payne definitely felt their love before his untimely death.
The new clip begins with the message “In loving memory of Liam Payne.”
When the Netflix show premiered earlier this month, host AJ McLean of Backstreet Boys dedicated the series to Payne and his loved ones. “When we came together to film Building the Band, we never imagined we’d soon be saying goodbye to our friend Liam Payne,” McLean says in the first episode. “Liam is a guest judge in later episodes, and through his presence, we see his deep love for music and his unwavering commitment to helping others find their voice. It’s through that spirit that we dedicate this series to Liam and his family.”
Building the Band was one of the final projects Payne worked on before his death in October. About two months after wrapping filming in August, he suffered a fatal fall from the fourth-floor balcony of his hotel room in Buenos Aires. High levels of alcohol and other substances were in his system at the time of his death, toxicology reports later confirmed.
With the blessing of Payne’s family, Netflix moved forward with streaming Building the Band, which separates hopeful singers into closed-off pods where they then seek to assemble a musical group before ever seeing one another. The third and final batch of episodes will be available to stream starting Wednesday.
Watch the new clip below:
