One Direction's debut single, "
What Makes You Beautiful", was released in September 2011 and peaked at number one in the UK and charted in the top ten in several international markets. Their debut album,
Up All Night, followed in November 2011, and debuted at number two on the
UK Albums Chart, with the highest sales for number two album in 2011,
[3]and became the fastest-selling debut album on the UK Albums Chart of 2011.
[4] On 21 March 2012,
Up All Night 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.
[5][6]
History
2010: The X Factor and formation
One Direction performing on the
X Factor Live Tour (2011)
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, the five were put together to form the band One Direction, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category.
[8] After the elimination of
F.Y.D.,
Diva Fever and
Belle Amie within four weeks, they were
Simon Cowell's last act in the competition. One Direction finished in third place behind runner-up
Rebecca Ferguson and winner
Matt Cardle. 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.
[9]
2011–present: Up All Night
Following
The X Factor, One Direction signed a £2 million record contract with Cowell's company
Syco Records.
[10] One Direction and nine other contestants from the series participated in the
X Factor Live Tour from February 2011 to April 2011.
[11] They developed their debut album with
Savan Kotecha[12] and released their debut single "
What Makes You Beautiful" on 11 September 2011.
[13] The song broke pre-order sales record for
Sony Music.
[14] It entered the
UK Singles Chart at number one with sales of 153,965 within the first week. One Direction released their second single "
Gotta Be You" on 13 November, which peaked at number three.
[15] The single was followed by their debut studio album,
Up All Night on 21 November.
[16] The album features One Direction collaborating with
Savan Kotecha,
Rami Yacoub,
RedOne,
Ed Sheeran,
Kelly Clarkson,
Tom Fletcher,
Steve Mac,
Toby Gad and
Carl Falk.
[16] According to review aggregator
Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews."
[17] The album debuted at number two on the
UK Albums Chart, selling 138,631 copies,
[3]and was the fastest-selling debut album on the UK Albums Chart of 2011.
[4] The album topped the charts in Australia, Canada, Croatia, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand and Sweden; reaching the top ten in a total of twenty countries.
On 26 September, One Direction announced their debut headline UK tour, the
Up All Night Tour, set for December 2011 and January 2012.
[18] The tour was sold out in minutes of release.
[19] On 9 November 2011, One Direction also revealed that they would be touring the United States with
Big Time Rush from February to March 2012.
[20] On 6 January 2012, One Direction released their third single "
One Thing",
[21] as a
promotional single in various European countries and was released in the UK on 13 February 2012.
[22] In the UK, "One Thing" peaked at number nine, becoming the third consecutive top ten single from
Up All Night.
[23] 21 February 2012, One Direction attended the 2012
Brit Awards. The group received the BRIT Award for
Best British Single.
[24] During One Direction's acceptance speech for their Brit Award, Payne stated the group would embark on their first arena tour in 2013, the then
UK & Ireland Arena Tour.
[25]
In November 2011, One Direction signed a record deal with
Columbia Records in the United States.
[26] The album was originally set for release in North America on 23 March 2012 through Columbia Records, but was rescheduled for an earlier release on 13 March 2012, with Columbia Records releasing a statement:
[27] "due to overwhelming fan demand, their debut album will be released one week early on 13 March 2012."
[28][29] "What Makes You Beautiful" was released in the United States on 14 February 2012,
[30] where it debuted on the
Billboard Hot 100 at number twenty-eight,
[31] the highest
Billboard Hot 100 debut for a UK act since 1998.
[31] The week of release was accompanied by a performance on the
Today Show at the
Rockefeller Center on 13 March.
[32] On 21 March 2012,
Up All Night went straight to number one on the U.S.
Billboard 200 after selling 176,000 copies in its first week, making One Direction the first ever UK group to debut at number one with their debut album.
[5] In promotion of the album One Direction appeared and performed at the
2012 Kids' Choice Awards (31 March),
[33] Saturday Night Live (7 April)
[34] and the
iCarly episode "
iGo One Direction", which aired the same day as the latter.
[35][36] In February and March 2012, One Direction announced
Australasia and North American legs of their
debut headlining tour with tour dates set for April to July 2012.
[37][38]
As of 9 April 2012, One Direction are being sued for
trademark infringement by a low profile
Californian music group who go by the same name. According to the lawsuit, the U.S. band has been using the name since 2009, recorded two albums and filed an application to register the trademark name in the U.S. in February 2011. The U.S. band say they are entitled to three times the profits made by the UK band, as well as compensatory damages in excess of $1million. The lawsuit claims that Syco and Sony Music "chose to ignore the plaintiff's rights and wilfully infringed them" after they realised in early 2011 that the two bands share the same name.
[39] On 13 April, a spokesman for the UK group responded to the claims saying: "One Direction's management tried to resolve the situation amicably. One Direction's lawyers now have no choice but to defend the lawsuit and the band's right to use their name."
[40]
Image
One Direction performing in
Toronto
Neil McCormick from
The Daily Telegraph published an article on the nature of One Direction's success in North America. Noting that Americans had left a gap in the market stating that it took prominence of
Justin Bieber to demonstrate that there was still a market for "clean cut, wholesome, middle class parent friendly pop: cute boys advocating puppy love. And what could be better than one cute boy, if not five?".
[41] One Direction has been labelled as the new
British Invasion.
[42][43][44][45][46]Bill Werde, a representative of
Billboard Magazine commented. "There's a lot of possibility here, there's a lot of upside, that level of talent with those kinds of looks, it's really a perfect storm for a massive, massive successful phenomenon."
[47] Sonny Takhar, the chief executive officer of
Syco Music, attributes the breakthrough to the power of social media. "Sometimes you feel the song's the star, but it's not like that here – it's the act," he says. "It's a real moment. Social media has become the new radio, it's never broken an act globally like this before."
[47] Yahoo! News published statistics from
Google's keyword tool, showing that on average, 3.35 million people are searching for One Direction related search phrases each month
[48] Their management employs a social media team, the members all tweet themselves, which helps create the illusion that they couldn't be any closer to their fans. One Direction's
Twitter account had amassed 2 million followers as of February 2012, and since then the account gains followers at an average of 35,000 per day.
[49] Each member is also known for their feature; Horan is the "cute little Irish one", Malik is the "quiet and mysterious one", Payne is "the sensible one", Styles is "the charming one" and Tomlinson is "the funny one."
[50]
Horan commented on One Direction as a boyband: "People think that a boyband is air-grabs and being dressed in all one colour. We're boys in a band. We’re trying to do something different from what people would think is the typical kind of boyband. We’re trying to do different kinds of music and we’re just trying to be ourselves, not squeaky clean."
[51]
Other ventures
Merchandise
The first One Direction-licensed book,
One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was released on 17 February 2011.
[52]Published by
HarperCollins, the book contains personal snaps, unseen photographs and backstage footage both from
The X Factor and the
X Factor Live Tour, as well as written accounts of every member of the band.
[53] The book reached the number one spot on the Sunday Times Bestseller list.
[54]
One Direction: The Official Annual 2012, was published on 1 September 2011. The book includes exclusive interviews, up to the minute news and information, and never before seen photos of the band.
[55] On 15 September 2011, One Direction released
Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction.
[56] Like the other books, it contains exclusive unseen photos of the band on and off stage, along with private captured moments.
Dare to Dream was also able to secure the top spot on the Sunday Times Non Fiction Hardback Bestseller list.
[57] Dare to Dream is set for release in the United States on 22 May 2012.
[58]
One Direction has also released its first calendar for 2012, the
One Direction 2012 Calendar. On 15 December 2011,
amazon.com revealed that One Direction have achieved the top selling calendar of all time, surpassing
Cheryl Cole's
Official Cheryl Cole 2011 Calendar and
JLS's
Official JLS 2011 Calendar in the UK.
[59]
Film
Commercial endorsements
One Direction became the brand ambassadors for
Pokémon Black and White in April 2011. They starred in a series of television ads, as well as special events performing for and meeting fans.
[62] They also launched limited edition
Nokia C2-02 and
Nokia C3-00 phones. They contain exclusive content such as One Direction wallpapers, ringtones, and behind the scenes videos of the band.
[63]
Members
Niall Horan
Niall Horan (born 13 September 1993 in
Mullingar,
County Westmeath,
Ireland) was born to mother Maura and father Bobby. He has an older brother, Greg, (23).
[64] Their parents divorced when he was five.
[65] He was a pupil at
Coláiste Mhuire, a boys'
Christian Brothers school.
[66][67]Horan gained singing experience in the school choir, performing seasonally around
Christmas.
[68] Prior to participating in
X Factor, he performed around his homeland, including as a support act for
Lloyd Daniels in
Dublin. Horan has been playing guitar since childhood. In an interview he referred to his guitar as "the best present I ever received for Christmas."
[69] Horan revealed his parents took note of his singing during a car trip, "my aunt said she thought the radio was on. Exactly the same thing happened to
Michael Bublé with his dad. He's my absolute hero so I like the fact we have a similar story."
[70] He also stated that in his hometown, he was often referred to as the "Irish Justin Bieber." He didn't mind the comparison.
[71][72] In 2010, Horan auditioned as a solo candidate for the seventh series of
The X Factor, performing "
So Sick", receiving mixed comments from the judges present at his audition, with
Louis Walsh in his favor. Two other judges voiced doubts about his abilities but with three votes out of four, he was sent to boot camp where he sang "
Champagne Supernova". He failed to qualify for the "Boys" category and so was put in One Direction. On forming One Direction, Horan said: "we were given five minutes to go away and decide if we wanted to do it, but we knew we were, it was just a formality. We were jumping up and down and we were all a bit giddy."
[68] On auditioning for
The X Factor, he said "I'm 16 and I want to be a big name like
Beyoncé and Justin Bieber," he said. "I've been compared to him a few times and it's not a bad comparison. I want to sell out arenas, make an album and work with some of the best artists in the world."
[72] Horan said "I was always the kid that picked up the nearest instrument and just loved music." He has also stated that he is a "big
swing" fan, noting older and current artists
Frank Sinatra,
Dean Martin and
Michael Bublé among his influences. Horan also cites
rock music among his influences, he is a fan of
The Eagles,
Bon Jovi and
The Script.
[73][74] Additionally he cites recording artist
Ed Sheeran as an influence. When Sheeran and One Direction collaborated on the song "
Moments" for their debut album, he said it as an honor to work with him.
[75] Horan has stated he prefers girls without make-up.
[76] In 2012, Horan revealed that he has had a fear of birds – known as
ornithophobia — since he was attacked by a pigeon while on the toilet as a child.
[77] In interview with
OK! Magazine Horan stated, "I've not actually been on too many dates. I just like sitting at home, chilling and watching a movie. He also said that he is better at understanding females than others, adding: "I'm an emotional guy, so I don't have to worry about that".
[78]
Zayn Malik
Zain "Zayn" Malik[79] (born 12 January 1993 in St. Luke's Hospital) is from West Lane,
Bradford, England.
[80] Born to an English mother, Tricia Brannan, and
British Pakistani father Yaser Malik, he has three sisters Doniya, Waliyha and Safaa.
[67][81] He grew up in
East Bowling, located south of the Bradford city centre. Malik was a pupil at Lower Fields Primary School in East Bowling and went to
Tong High School, a state comprehensive school.
[82] He stated that as a child "I was a bit of a handful when I was a kid because I was quite hyperactive. Even in the house my mum used to put me in my pram because I was so full-on." Malik didn't fit in at his first two schools due to his mixed heritage, revealing that when he and his sister moved schools he felt he fit in better.
[83] In 2010, Malik auditioned as a solo candidate for the seventh series of
The X Factor. His audition was initially not broadcast, but was shown after the series ended on companion show
The Xtra Factor. Malik was noted for becoming nervous in bootcamp, and when he was told he had to dance, he decided to remain backstage, effectively running the risk of elimination. Simon Cowell noticed Malik missing from the dance routine and went backstage and convinced him to return.
[84] At bootcamp Malik failed to qualify for the "Boys" category and was put in One Direction. On auditioning for the
X Factor, Malik, said "I was looking for an experience". He cites
urban music as his main musical influence. Growing up, he was into
R&B and
rap.
[85][86] For his
X Factor audition, he performed the
Mario R&B song "
Let Me Love You". He as well as other members of One Direction further notes artists such as
Bruno Mars, as a "dream collaborator".
[87] Malik dated fellow
X Factorcontestant,
Rebecca Ferguson, which caused controversy because due to the six year age difference. The relationship ended after four months together. In November 2011, Ferguson addressed the media interest, saying: "When I was in a relationship with Zayn it was quite hard, but it comes with it. Me and Zayn just grew apart. I wish him all the best."
[88] Malik likes to draw cartoons and collect comic books, 'I’m into comic books,' he told
Vevo Lift. "I used to collect them when I was younger – it’s quite a geeky thing I think."
[89] Malik smokes
cigarettes. In late 2011,
Metro reported that his New Years' resolution was to quit smoking, saying "I definitely to quit smoking. I need to do it."
[90] He has seven tattoos: a
Yin Yang on his wrist, a picture of crossed fingers on his forearm, his grandfather's name Walter in
Arabic on his chest, a "born lucky" symbol, a playing card on his stomach, a silver fern on his neck and an inscription across his collarbone. On the latter, Malik
tweeted that it meant "be true to who you are".
[91][92]
Liam Payne
Liam Payne(born 29 August 1993) is from
Wolverhampton,
West Midlands, England, born three weeks early to mother Karen and father Geoff,
[93] he has two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola.
[67] Until the age of four, Payne had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain, he had 32 injections in his arm in the morning and evening as a child.
[94] He described himself as a "naughty boy at school." He tried out for teams, eventually finding his place on the cross-country team and coming in first. "From then on I was training all the time and getting up at 6 am to run for miles. At the age of 12 they put me in the school's under-18s team." Payne was bullied in school and took up boxing lessons, saying he "needed to find a way to defend myself, I was, at 12 years old, fighting the 38-year-old trainer. I broke my nose, had a perforated eardrum and I was always coming home with a bruised, puffy face. But it gave me confidence. I got pretty good over the next couple of years."
[83] He was a
music technology student at
City of Wolverhampton College.
[95] Payne first auditioned in 2008 to
The X Factor's fifth series when he was fourteen. He made it to the judges' houses, but
Simon Cowell thought he was not ready for the competition and asked him to come back in two years. In 2010, Payne returned and auditioned with "
Cry Me a River", receiving a standing ovation from the audience and Cowell. At bootcamp, he sang "
Stop Crying Your Heart Out" before being rejected and put into One Direction. On the experience, Payne says "Normally when you put together a band they have some time to go away and do development but we had to do that on a live competition, in front of 20 million people. If you make a mistake in front of an audience like that, you get voted out. We had no room for error whatsoever. We had to grow up very, very fast."
[68] Payne cites
pop star
Justin Timberlake as one of his biggest influences. He also says he draws inspiration from
Take Thatmember
Gary Barlow when performing.
[96] Regarding his one functional
kidney Payne said "I have to be careful not to drink too much, even water, and I have to keep myself as healthy as possible."
[97] He is currently in a relationship with dancer, Danielle Peazer.
[98] They met on the
X Factor in 2010 and have been in a relationship ever since.
[99] In an interview with
Now Magazine, Payne said "Danielle's amazing. All the boys love her – in a friendly way. Lately I've been able to spend a lot of time with her. It's hard when we go away, but she's so good about everything." On settling down, Payne said "If possible, with Danielle."
[100]
Harry Styles
Harry Styles (born 1 February 1994 in
Evesham,
Worcestershire)
[101] is from village
Holmes Chapel,
Cheshire, England. He is a former pupil at
Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, a state comprehensive school.
[102] Born to mother Anne and father Des, he has an older sister, Gemma,
[67] he was seven when their parents divorced; his mother later remarried to Robin Twist. Regarding his parents divorce he said, "that was quite a weird time. I remember crying about it. I didn’t really get what was going on properly, I was just sad that my parents wouldn't be together any more." Following the divorce, Styles, his older sister and his mother moved further out into the Cheshire countryside. At the age of twelve he moved back to Holmes Chapel. That was when his mother met his stepfather Robin Twist. Styles said he was "really pleased" when Twist proposed to his mother. As a child he loved singing. Styles was the lead singer for the band White Eskimo with band members lead guitarist Haydn Morris, bass guitarist Nick Clough and drummer Will Sweeny.
[103] They had once entered a local Battle of the Bands, which they won.
[68] In 2010, Styles auditioned for
The X Factor with "
Isn't She Lovely", receiving positive comments from two of the three judges, with Louis Walsh having doubts on whether he was ready to progress in the competition. At bootcamp, he sang "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" before being rejected and put into One Direction. Styles came up with band name
One Direction, as he thought it would sound good when
The X Factor announcer
Peter Dickson read their name out on the live shows aloud. Tomlinson added "Harry texted us to ask what we thought and it was one of those were we all just said, 'Yes' straight away. We all entered the competition with one thing in mind and that was to go to the top, so it worked. And it can be abbreviated to 1D!"
[68] Styles said that
The X Factor gave him a lot more confidence.
[104] As a child, Styles loved singing, noting
Elvis Presley as one of his influences. He also cites Presley for his musical beginnings.
[104] Styles also cites more current music by
Foster the People,
Coldplay and
Kings of Leon. "We want to have a little bit heavier guitars, bigger drums, more of a live feel, because that's what we like doing," Styles says for their next album, though he says that shouldn't be misinterpreted to mean the group is going "grungier". "Because we are 18 years old, it's important that we like what we’re doing as well. It wouldn't be good if we weren’t enjoying what we're doing, and we are."
[51] Styles says that he often looks to Coldplay front man
Chris Martin for inspiration when performing on stage.
[96] Styles also states that
The Beatles had a profound influence on him growing up, as his father would play their music. "I still listen to their music over and over again. They are absolute icons and an inspiration," he says.
[105] Styles states that he likes being
nude, citing it as "very liberating, I feel so free."
[104] He briefly dated English
television presenter Caroline Flack, which caused widespread media controversy over their fifteen-year age gap.
[106] Styles currently resides with band member Tomlinson in
North London.
[107] Due to his friendship with Tomlinson, they are to referred to the
portmanteau "Larry Stylinson" by their fans. Styles spoke to
Vevo lift on the latter saying, "the fans call me and Louis Larry Stylinson... because we get on so well. Since we started at the
X Factor house, me and Louis had always said that we wanted to move in together. And that was pretty much it. It just sort of happened."
[108]
Louis Tomlinson
Louis Tomlinson (born 24 December 1991)
[109] is from
Doncaster,
South Yorkshire, England. Born to mother Johanna and father Mark,
[110] he has four younger sisters: Charlotte, Félicité, and twins Daisy and Phoebe. Their parents separated in 2011.
[67] He said growing up, he always wanted a little brother but having four younger sisters taught him a lot about women. He added "having that many sisters has definitely helped me with children too, people always comment on how comfortable I am around kids. I absolutely love babies and kids." When Daisy and Phoebe had roles as babies on a show called
Fat Friends, he would go along and serve as an extra. After Fat Friends, he attended an acting school in
Barnsley. He had small parts in an
ITV1 drama called
If I Had You, and
BBC's
Waterloo Road. He was a
sixth form student at
Hall Cross School, a state comprehensive school, and a former pupil of
the Hayfield School. He revealed that he failed his first year of A levels at the Hayfield School, "mainly because I’d been too busy having fun. I was out all the time in that first year." He ended up going back to Hall Cross and started A levels over again.
[104] As a student at Hall Cross, Tomlinson starred in several musical productions.
[111] In 2010, Tomlinson auditioned as a solo candidate for the seventh series of
The X Factor. Tomlinson auditioned with the song "
Hey There Delilah", receiving votes from all three judges. At bootcamp, he sang "
Make You Feel My Love" before being rejected and put into One Direction. Regarding his time on
The X Factor he said "we were given five minutes to make up our mind and we all said 'Do you want to do it?' Everyone said yeah, and that was it. There was no question, go home as a solo or stay in as a group.' We were gutted when we didn't win. But then we just started to reflect on it and we thought, we were the last group there, the youngest in the competition, and we didn't even know each other months ago. And when you look at it like that, we did really well. Some people say
X Factor's an easy ride and a queue jump to fame. But we came from nothing, and had no experience as a group at all. And for me, by the time we came to the end of the show, we were a completely different group. We worked so hard, and achieved so much."
[68] On choosing to audition for
The X Factor, he cites his lead role in a high school production of
Grease.
[112]He cites
English recording artist and Take That member
Robbie Williams as his biggest influence and idol. He said that Williams was his idol growing up. In an interview with
Now Magazine he says he was starstruck when he met Williams in 2010 on
The X Factor. "I've always loved Robbie. "He's just so cheeky, he can get away with anything. His performances are unbelievable. We met a lot of celebrities on
The X Factorand he was one of the nicest."
[113] He also cites recording artist Ed Sheeran, describing the artist as "phenomenal."
[114] In an interview, he mentioned pop superstar
Michael Jackson as a "real inspiration" saying "I am a big Michael Jackson fan. He was a real inspiration and had so many great songs."
[115] He currently resides with band member Styles in North London.
[107] Due to his friendship with Styles, they are referred to as the portmanteau "Larry Stylinson" by fans. Tomlinson is currently in a relationship with
Hollister model and
Manchester University student Eleanor Calder.
[116][117] In 2011, Tomlinson told of his heartbreak after his parents Johanna and Mark announced they were getting a divorce.
[118]
