One Direction are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London, England in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson; former member Zayn Malik departed from the group in March 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. During these TV shows they performed a version of Kids in America. One Direction achieved third place in the competition and immediately after the final, their song Forever Young, which would have been released if they had won X Factor, was ‘leaked’ on the internet.
One Direction’s five albums, ‘Up All Night’ (2011), ‘Take Me Home’ (2012), ‘Midnight Memories’ (2013), ‘Four’ (2014), and ‘Made in the A.M.’ (2015), topped charts in most major markets, and generated hit singles including ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ (their first number one on the UK Singles Chart), ‘Live While We’re Young’, ‘Best Song Ever’, ‘Story of My Life’ and ‘Drag Me Down’. After the release of ‘Four’, One Direction became the first band in the US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one. Their third album, ‘Midnight Memories’, was the best-selling album worldwide of 2013. Considered teen idols, One Direction were often subject to fan hysteria. They have embarked on four world tours, two of which were all-stadium. The band’s ‘Where We Are Tour’, in support of ‘Midnight Memories’, was the highest-grossing concert tour in 2014, the highest-grossing tour by a vocal group in history, and the 15th highest-grossing concert tour of all time.
The band went on hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects.