BACKGROUND
AJ McLean is remembering Liam Payne as “a light” in his life after the singer’s recent death…reminiscing about the time they spent together working on a new Netflix show.
The Backstreet Boys member opened up about the late One Direction star’s passing at LAX, where he shared how he and Liam became friends while working on “Building the Band,” a music competition series where singers get the chance to build the next big pop group.
AJ says they just wrapped up the TV show… where he, Liam, Nicole Scherzinger and Kelly Rowland they worked together over a 6 week period and had a lot of fun.
AJ, who has battled addiction throughout his career, noted that he didn’t see any red flags while working with Liam… but admitted the two boybanders had “a lot of similarities.”
While the pair never discussed their respective sobriety journeys, AJ said he and Liam talked a lot about “life”… praising the late pop singer as “very funny” and a “sweetheart.”
He added… “Addiction is a real thing. Luckily I came out the other side, but I’m one of the few.”
Right now AJ is thinking about Liam’s ex-bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horanand Zayn Malik …explaining how the boyband members “become a family” while working together.
As TMZ previously reported, Liam fell to his death from a third-floor balcony at the CasaSur Palermo Hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Wednesday. The singer was in the South American country to support Niall’s show at the Movistar Arena earlier this month… ultimately extending his trip to spend more time in the Argentine capital.
Law enforcement officials said Liam jumped from his hotel balcony… citing drugs as the likely cause of his erratic behavior last week. The initial results of Liam’s autopsy are in… with a toxicology report stating that the singer had cocaine, crack, “Cristal” – the Argentine version of methamphetamine – and other drugs in his system.
As we reported, Liam was telling people he was sober earlier this year.