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One Direction biography
One Direction is a renowned English-Irish pop boy band with high popularity among young people around the world. With a bright pop-rock sound and stylish looks, this vocal group made a captivating impact on teenagers. The formation of this London-based band, also known as ID, was done in 2010. Five people, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik are the founding members of One Direction. Zayn Malik left the group in 2015.
These five members attended the famous British television talent contest show, The X Factor for budding singers as solo performers. When they were asked to pool their talents, these five young people came together under the name One Direction to showcase their musical talents. In 2010, all these boys were aged between 16 and 18 years. One Direction made a captivating impact on young people, particularly, young female viewers.
The vocal skills of these boys were well-appreciated by millions of viewers. The charismatic stage presence also played a critical role in making them popular. One Direction didn’t win the X Factor title. However, Simon Cowell, the chief architect of the show, signed a recording contract with them immediately after the season. Simon’s record label, Syco Records, was a stepping stone. That is to say, it was just the beginning. Since then, the growth of ID as a vocal band has been phenomenal.
The popularity of One Direction on social media grew manifold over time. Their five albums, Up All Night, Take Me Home, Midnight Memories, Four, and Made in the A.M were huge hits in many countries and topped numerous charts. The hit single of this group, known as What Makes You Beautiful topped the UK Singles Chart. It was also the highest achievement by a debutant British band on the US Billboard Hot 100 for the last 10 years. It also won the Best British Single award in the Brit Awards in 2012.
Other popular singles of One Direction include Drag Me Down, Story of My Life, Best Song Ever, and Live While We’re Young. The album Midnight Memories topped many charts worldwide. Further, it was one of the best-selling albums in 2013. With the release of Four in 2014, One Direction created history by holding the honor of being the first band in the US Billboard 200 history with their first four albums debut at number one spot.
One Direction – Musical Style and Influences
The versatility of One Direction is highly appreciable. The first studio album of this group Up All Night can be termed a pop music record. It blends various elements of electropop, pop rock, dance-pop, and teen pop harmoniously. Various experts used many different phrases like “full of easy rock-inflected pop, a collection of PG pop rock with killer choruses, and more. The originality in sound paved the way for the revival of the boy band movement. The dominant choruses and powerhouse guitar riffs made the songs in this album uniquely entertaining.
The main characteristics of the second studio album, Take Me Home, include bright synthesizers, rock-inherited pop, and electric guitar riffs. The third album Midnight Memories takes a slightly different route than the band’s original teen pop sound. It is more of a pop-rock record. You can find a heavy influence of folk music and rock music in the 80s. The musical composition and lyrical depth were appreciated by a large number of critics. The Fourth album of One Direction, Five marks a refined maturation of the band’s pop sound.
One Direction – Major Awards and Achievements
More than 70 million records of One Direction have been sold worldwide. This figure makes this band one of the best-selling ones in the history of boy bands. In 2013, Forbes listed this group as the second highest-earning celebrity aged less than 30 years. The revenue of this group was around $75 million. According to Forbes, One Direction was the second highest-earning celebrity in 2016.
One Direction has won 6 Billboard Music Awards, 5 Billboard Touring Awards, 7 Brit Awards, 4 MTV Video Music Awards, and 7 American Music Awards. It also holds the distinction of winning the maximum number of (28) Teen Choice Awards from 31 nominations. IFPI chose this band as the Global Recording Artist of the Year in 2013. Billboard honored this group with the title Artist of the Year in 2014.
One Direction – Albums and Other Prominent Creations
The first album of One Direction, Up All Night, was released in 2011. Other albums are Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013), Four (2014), and Made in the A.M. (2015). The video albums of this band are One Direction: Up All Night – The Live Tour and One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film.
The list of Extended Plays of ID includes iTunes Festival: London 2012, Live While We're Young EP, Best Song Ever, Midnight Memories EP, You & I EP, Perfect EP, Acoustic EP, Live EP, Rarities EP, and Remixes EP.
Leading singles of this band include What Makes You Beautiful, Gotta Be You, One Thing, More Than This, Live While We're Young, Little Things, Kiss You, One Way Or Another, Best Song, Story of My Life, Midnight Memories, You and I, History, Perfect, Night Changes, and Steal My Girl.
One Direction – Members
The four pillars of One Direction are Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson.
One Direction played a prominent part in revitalizing the boy band culture in the UK, United States, and around the world. It is often known as the biggest boy band in the world. The influence of social media was vital in making this group incredibly popular during the beginning stage. These four boys were often subject to unprecedented fan hysteria.
Each member of One Direction has his own individual identity. It is reinforced by each one’s deliberately different personal styles. These boys wanted to do something different than the typical kind of boy band. As a socially committed music band, One Direction has been doing a lot of charity work to make a difference in the lives of needy and poor people.