ONE DIRECTION
One Direction (commonly abbreviated as 1D) are a British pop boy band based in London, comprised of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They 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. Propelled to international success by social media, One Direction's four albums, Up All Night (2011), Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013) and Four (2014) broke records, topped charts in most major markets, and generated hit singles including "What Makes You Beautiful", "Live While We're Young", "Story of My Life" and "Steal My Girl". After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the U.S. Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one. Their third album Midnight Memories was the biggest-selling album worldwide of 2013 despite being released in later November. In 2014, Billboard named One Direction the top artist of the year.
In 2010, they auditioned as solo candidates for the seventh series of X Factor. They failed to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges' houses" but were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Styles came up with the name ''One Direction.''
For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK. One Direction finished in third place and immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor, was leaked onto the internet. During the tour, the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album.
For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK. One Direction finished in third place and immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor, was leaked onto the internet. During the tour, the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album.
RANDOM FACTS
- Liam, Zayn and Louis all said that they couldn't live without their phones. Niall went for music and Harry opted for family.
- Liam and Niall both have the same middle name; James. Louis’s middle name is William, Zayn’s is Jawaad and Harry’s is Edward.
- Niall used to have two pet fish called Ben and Jerry, they died because Niall accidentally fed them too much. Devastating.
- When One Direction’s debut album got No.1, Harry bought a mattress to celebrate.
- Everyone in One Direction has one or more sisters except for Niall. He is the only one who has a brother.
Just close your eyes and enjoy the roller coaster that is life :)