One Direction

ONE DIRECTION


One Direction

One Direction at the 54th Logies Awards. From left to right: Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Pop rock, pop
Years active 2010–present
Labels Syco, Columbia
Associated acts The X Factor finalists 2010
Website onedirectionmusic.com
Members
Niall Horan
Zayn MalikLiam Payne
Harry Styles
Louis Tomlinson
One Direction are a British-Irish boy band consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records[1] after being formed and placing third in the seventh series of The X Factor. They later signed in North America to Columbia Records.[2]
In November 2011, OneDirection released their debut album Up All Night, which became the fastest-selling debut album in the UK of 2011.[3] In 2012, it debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200, making One Direction the first UK group in history to debut at number one with their first album in the country.[4][5] Up All Night spawned the Official UK Singles Chart top ten singles — "What Makes You Beautiful", "Gotta BeYou", and "One Thing". In 2012, "What Makes You Beautiful" won the BRIT Award for Best British Single.[6] They have began recording their second studio album, due for release in late 2012. One Direction's world tour is set for 2013, with tickets grossing $15.7 million for their Australian and New Zealand dates.[7]
One Direction has endorsements with Pokémon, Nokia, HarperCollins and Hasbro. Theyhave been described as sparking a resurgence in the boy band concept, and of forming part of a new "British Invasion" in the United States. As of June 2012, according to Nick Gatfield the CEO and chairman of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represent a $50 million business empire.[8]
Contents [hide]
1 History
1.1 2010: The X Factor and formation
1.2 2011–12: Up All Night, touringand breakthrough
1.3 2012–present: Untitled second studio album and world tour
2 Image
3 Other ventures
4 Philanthropy
5 Members
5.1 Niall Horan
5.2 Zayn Malik
5.3 Liam Payne
5.4 Harry Styles
5.5 Louis Tomlinson
6 Discography
7 Concert tours
8 Filmography
9 Awards and nominations
10 Publications
11 See also
12 References
13 External links
History

2010: The X Factor andformation
"Interestingly, when they left, I had a bad feeling that maybe we shouldn't have lost them and this is when the idea came about that we should see if they could work as a group. We invited these five guys back. The minute they stood there for the first time together – it was a weird feeling. They just looked like a group at that point. I had a good feeling, but then obviously we had about afive-week wait where they had to work together. I was concerned whether five weeks was long enough, but they came back five weeks later and were absolutely sensational. When they came to my house in Spain and performed, after about a millionth of a second. I tried to keep a straight face for a bit of drama for the show. I remember sitting next to this girl who I was working with. The second theyleft we jumped out of my chair and said, "These guys are incredible!" They just had it. They had this confidence. They were fun. They worked out the arrangements themselves. They were like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well."
—Simon Cowell talking to Rolling Stone about the formation of One Direction.[9]
Main article: The X Factor (UK series 7)


Wembley Arena, London, England,where the formation of One Direction took place during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition.[10]
In 2010, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik and Niall Horan applied as solo candidates for the seventh series of The X Factor, but failed to qualify for the "Boys" category. After suggestion by guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, they were put together to form a five-piece boy band,...