Claim: One Direction is a band comprising of boys.

Liam James Payne -LRB- born 29 August 1993 -RRB- is an English singer and songwriter . He rose to fame as a member of the band One Direction . In 2016 , Payne signed a recording deal with Capitol Records as a solo artist , and with Republic Records in the United States .   Payne made his debut as a singer when he auditioned as a solo artist for the British television series The X Factor in 2008 with `` Fly Me to the Moon '' by Frank Sinatra . Though cut by Simon Cowell following judge 's house , Payne was encouraged to audition again . He reauditioned as a solo artist in 2010 , where he was put into a group along with four other contestants , to form the boy band that would later become known as One Direction . Since joining One Direction , Payne , along with bandmates Niall Horan , Louis Tomlinson , Harry Styles and former bandmate Zayn Malik , have released five commercially successful albums , performed on four worldwide tours , one featured on concert film One Direction : This Is Us , and won multiple awards , including two BRIT Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards .   Payne has worked independently under the monikers `` Big Payno '' and `` Payno '' creating remixes for songs by his band and singer Cheryl . On 19 May 2017 , Payne released his debut single `` Strip That Down '' , the lead single from his upcoming debut solo album .