One Direction

One Direction
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
One Direction

One Direction in 2012. From left to right: Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, and LouisTomlinson.
Background information
Origin London, England
Genres Dance-pop, pop rock, power pop, teen pop
Years active 2010–present
Labels Syco, Columbia
Associated acts The X Factorfinalists 2010
Website onedirectionmusic.com
Members
Niall Horan
Zayn Malik
Liam Payne
Harry Styles
Louis Tomlinson
One Direction are an English-Irish boy band consisting ofmembers Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson. They signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after being formed and finishing third in theseventh series of British television singing competition The X Factor in 2010. They subsequently signed in the United States with Columbia Records. Becoming a prominent figure inmainstream popular music and popular culture, their two albums Up All Night and Take Me Home, released in 2011 and 2012 respectively, broke several records, topped the charts of most majormarkets, and generated international chart-topping singles, including "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Live While We're Young".
Often described as sparking the resurgence in the boyband concept, and of forming part of a new "British Invasion" in the United States, as of November 2012, One Direction have sold over 15 million albums, singles, and videos worldwide.Their achievements include a BRIT Award and 3 MTV Video Music Awards. Through combined music, merchandising, and touring sales, according to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chiefexecutive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, as of June 2012, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire. The Huffington Post proclaimed 2012 "The Year of One Direction".[1]