By Jamie Neiberg
One Direction, a worldwide phenomenon mesmerizing the ears and hearts of teenage girls. 5 albums, over 50 million records sold, over 2.7 million tickets purchased. To say that One Direction was not a success, truthfully, is an ability nobody has. This iconic band lasted as a fivesome, including Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, & Zayn Malik, from 2010-2015. So, where are they now?
Louis Tomlinson, born in 1991, was a loved yet slightly forgettable member of One Direction. In the good old “1D” days, he was ranked the least favorite and named the ugliest member of the band. Since then, he has released a platinum solo song, a few singles, and one album. He also appeared on Debritt’s 2017 list of most influential people in the UK. He has started his own record label, played football amongst all-stars for charity, and has always been devoted to donations and spreading awareness about social justice issues and children’s health. Although he may have been ranked the ugliest, he has led a beautiful life outside the confines of being in the band.
Niall Horan has seen success both in 1D and on his journey since their 2015 break-up. He is the founder of “Modest!Golf Management,” an agency that helps young golfers with their off-the-course business. He also teamed up with Justin Rose, a PGA winner, and created Horan & Rose, a cancer research charity that uses their golf and music connections to further their studies. His solo songs hit the top of the charts, with “This Town” at #1 on iTunes in 49 Countries, “Slow Hands” at #1 on US Radio, “Flicker” debuting at #1 in the US (the third member of 1D to achieve this), among many more musical feats. Horan’s genius songs and unforgettable Irish characteristics earned him a People’s Choice Award in 2017.
Niall famously said, “I won’t date a model, because models are perfect and perfect is boring.” So of course he went the imperfect route by dating Selena Gomez, Hailee Steinfeld, two famous and influential celebrities. Now, he is “going steady” with fashion designer Amelia Woolley. Niall has had an amazing career, including being ranked the most attractive member by Billboard. He has definitely got that one thing!
Harry Styles is a well known heartthrob, fashion icon, and an internet proclaimed “White Boy of the Century.” Harry always was a leader of the band and fans were shocked that he wasn’t the first to leave and start his solo career. This caused shock waves throughout Tumblr when Zayn left before Harry. Harry released two solo albums by 2018, starred in “Dunkirk,” and hosted a week of “The Late Late Show with James Corden.” He then proceeded to co-host the Met Gala alongside Lady Gaga in 2019. Styles’ new album, Fine Line, released in 2019 houses songs such as “Golden,” “Watermelon Sugar,” and “Falling.”
The persona social media has given him is #fratboyharry. Harry notoriously has dated model Kiko Mizuhara, Camille Rowe, Pandora Lennard, Kendall Jenner (twice), Georgia Fowler, VS Model Sara Sampio, Taylor Swift and many, many, many more. Taylor Swift’s song “We Are Never Ever Ever Getting Back Together” is written about Styles. In it, Swift sings about how toxic he is as a boyfriend. But still, who wouldn’t want to be Olivia in “Olivia” written by Harry!
Liam Payne was a co-writer for the majority of One Direction songs, remixed songs like You&1 and Steal My Girl, and was a valuable asset to 1D. His debut single Strip That Down,co written by Ed Sheeran, developed into the highest selling single for any One Direction member and became a worldwide success. During the pandemic, Payne has devoted his time to helping food pantries and his YouTube channel. Currently Payne is engaged to Maya Henry, a daughter of a multimillionaire. Sadly, the 1D fandom has ranked Payne the second least favorite, despite being responsible for the songs we know and love.
Zayn Malik, the first one to leave the bands,desired to live a life away from the spotlight, yet he has most definitely not done that since his departure. Post 1D, he debuted his single PillowTalk, which made him only one of two male artists to debut at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2016. Zayn has released a number of other hit singles, such as “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” a collaboration with Taylor Swift. He has released a shoe line with Versace, making himself notable in the fashion industry. Zayn and Gigi Hadid have been together on and off since 2015 and they just had their first child together, a baby girl. Her name hasn’t been released yet. His tatted up self won the love of Gigi and the fans.
Our moms will surely tell us that boy bands will come and go, but for us, on Spotify and Apple Music, they will forever remain One Band, One Dream, One Direction.
Sources:
- HeartCoUk
- One Direction Fandom
- CapitalFM
- UPROXX
- The Guardian
- Meaww
- Seventeen Magazine
- Hello Magazine
- Billboard