"Building the Band" is a new Netflix competition show that takes a spin on the format of "Love Is Blind" and features Liam Payne before his death.

And in the opening moments of the competition series’ first episode, AJ McLean — who hosts Building the Band — paid tribute to his late friend. “When we came together to film Building the Band, we never imagined we’d soon be saying goodbye to our friend Liam Payne,” the Backstreet Boys member tells the camera.

Now streaming on Netflix, the series marks the first posthumous appearance from the One Direction member who appears as a guest judge