One Direction

*The topic of this page has a wiki of its own: One Direction Wiki.*

From left to right: Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson

## Background information

### Members

Harry Styles
Niall Horan
Liam Payne
Louis Tomlinson

### Website

onedirectionmusic.com

**One Direction** (often shortened to **1D**) are an English-Irish pop boyband formed in London, England in 2010. The group are composed of Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan; former member Zayn Malik departed from the group in 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010. After five studio albums, the band went on hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects.

## History

The members originally entered 2010's seventh series of *The X Factor* as individuals, but following a suggestion from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, they were grouped together to become One Direction. Mentored by Simon Cowell, they soon became one of the favorites to win the show, thanks to renditions of Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You," Elton John's "Something About the Way You Look Tonight," and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." However, despite receiving a standing ovation for their duet with Robbie Williams ("She's the One") in the live final, they eventually finished third behind Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle. Cowell signed them to his Syco label in a two-million euro deal, and after performing on the X-Factor tour, the quintet began work on its debut album with Savan Kotecha. Following a sponsorship deal with Nintendo DS and a book, Forever Young, named after their cover of the Alphaville classic that was intended to be their winner's song, they released their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful", in late 2011. The full-length album *Up All Night* followed soon after. In 2012, One Direction became the first British band to debut on top of the *Billboard* 200 list when *Up All Night* sold over 176,000 copies during its first week of release in America.

In late 2012, One Direction released their sophomore album, *Take Me Home*. Highlighting more of the band's melodic pop, Take Me Home featured songs and production from Sweden's Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, and Savan Kotecha, who worked on *Up All Night*, as well as contributions from singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran. The album proved to be another smash and topped charts around the world, earning multi-platinum certification in half-a-dozen countries. The singles "Live While We're Young" and "Little Things" also hit number one across the globe, and "Kiss You" reached the Top Ten in the U.S.

One Direction then embarked on a globe-spanning tour in which the band played over 100 shows, including six sold-out nights at London's massive O2 Arena. At the same time, they were being filmed by director Morgan Spurlock for *This Is Us*, a mix of documentary and concert footage that proved to be successful at the box office when it was released in August of 2013. While they were touring, One Direction also began work on their third album, *Midnight Memories*. Released just in time for the 2013 holidays, the record featured songwriting input from all the members, a new production team, and some new folk and '80s hair metal influences. It nearly outpeaked *Take Me Home* and *Up All Night*, peaking at number one in seven countries and spawning the singles "Best Song Ever" and "Story of My Life."

The group toured the world for most of 2014, but still found time to record a fourth album, which was released in late 2014. Produced by the same team who handled *Midnight Memories*, *Four* similarly looked back to the '80s for inspiration and featured a new song from old friend Ed Sheeran. A pair of platinum singles, "Steal My Girl" and "Night Changes," helped the album hit number one in nearly 20 countries.

The band returned to the road and a busy promotional schedule in 2015, during which Malik was often absent. He left the tour due to stress in early March, then officially quit the band a few days later. (He went on to become the first to pursue a solo career.) The four remaining members continued touring, and in July released "Drag Me Down", the first single from their fifth album, *Made in the A.M.* Following the September announcement of the album, the band members also revealed that, after the promotional efforts for the album were over, they'd be going on hiatus during 2016. *Made in the A.M.* was released in November of 2015, and featured the singles "Infinity," "Perfect," "What a Feeling," and "History." It performed very well commercially, peaking at number one in the U.K. and number two in the U.S. ***EVERYONE GO STREAM WALLS, FINE LINE, BETTER, HEARTBREAK WEATHER, LP1, AND WHAT A FEELING!!!!***