LONDON โ One Direction was one of the last boy bands from the age of mass-audience linear television and one of the first of the social media era.
That helped propel them to a level of fame comparable to Beatlemania, but with the constant scrutiny of a world of smartphones and streaming. The band members, still in their teens, had to cope with the fame, then navigate the aftermath of its split while trying to build solo careers โ challenges that have received renewed attention in the wake of band member Liam Payne's death on Wednesday.
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One Direction was put together by music mogul Simon Cowell after the teens auditioned separately for TV talent show โThe X-Factorโ in 2010. They didnโt win, instead coming third in a final watched by 17 million people in the U.K., a quarter of the population. But they were signed by Cowell and had the first of several No. 1 hits with the now-pop classic โWhat Makes You Beautifulโ in 2012.
British radio host Kevin Hughes called them โone of the biggest selling U.K. bands since The Beatles, a huge global export and one of the biggest selling pop acts of the 21st century.โ
One Directionโs appeal rested partly on the membersโ cheerful, cheeky ordinariness. The late filmmaker Morgan Spurlock said when he directed a documentary about One Direction in 2013 that โpart of the reason theyโve been so incredibly successful with their fans is that they are so incredibly grounded and normal.โ
After five studio albums and 70 million records sold, One Direction announced an indefinite hiatus in 2016. All the members embarked on solo careers, with varying degrees of success.
LIAM PAYNE
Payne, who died at 31 after falling from a hotel balcony in Argentina, became one of the main songwriters on One Directionโs albums. His first solo single, โStrip that Down,โ a power pop track featuring rapper Quavo, was a Top 10 hit in Britain in 2017. โFor You,โ performed with Rita Ora, was a U.K. hit in 2018.
Payneโs debut solo album, โLP1,โ was released in 2019, but didnโt make the U.S. Top 100.
Payne had a son, now 7, with the former โGirls Aloudโ singer Cheryl โ an โX Factorโ judge during One Direction's season.
He was open about struggling with his mental health amid the pressures of fame. He spent time in rehab for alcoholism and in hospital with what he said were kidney problems.
After a period of silence, Payne returned with a new single, โTeardrops,โ in March, saying in a statement that it โmarks the start of a new beginning.โ The song failed to chart and a second album was reportedly put on hold before his death.
ZAYN MALIK
Malik precipitated One Directionโs demise when he left the group in 2015, saying he wanted โto be a normal 22-year-oldโ for a while.
His first solo single, โPillowtalk,โ was released early in 2016 and topped the charts in both the U.S. and Britain. A duet with Taylor Swift, โI Donโt Wanna Live Forever,โ was a hit late the same year.
Malik has released the solo albums โMind of Mineโ in 2016, โIcarus Fallsโ in 2018, โNobody is Listeningโ in 2021 and โRoom Under the Stairsโ this year. The most recent adds a country sound to the R&B-pop on which heโs built his career.
Malik, who has spoken of struggles with anxiety and anorexia, has a daughter, born in 2020, with his on-off partner, model Gigi Hadid. In 2021, he was sentenced to 90 daysโ probation after pleading no contest to harassing Hadid and her mother during an argument at the family home in Pennsylvania.
NIALL HORAN
The affable Irish member of One Direction released his first single, โThis Town,โ in 2016, and debut album โFlickerโ the following year. Showcasing Horanโs talent for tuneful pop, it topped Billboardโs album chart.
A second album, โHeartbreak Weather,โ came out in 2020 and a third, โThe Show,โ was released in 2023, accompanied by a world tour this year โ including a concert in Buenos Aires earlier this month attended by Payne.
Horan has also served as a coach on TV talent series โThe Voiceโ in the U.S.
LOUIS TOMLINSON
Tomlinson made his solo debut with the single โJust Hold Onโ in 2016. Several more singles followed before his debut album, โWalls,โ was released in 2020. It was a Top 10 hit in the U.S. and the U.K., as was his second album, โFaith in the Future,โ released in late 2022. Tomlinson released a live album, โLive,โ in 2024.
In 2018, he appeared as a judge on โThe X Factor,โ the show that made him famous.
Tomlinson's other great love is soccer. He briefly played for his home town team, Doncaster Rovers, and he has been involved with the Soccer Aid charity fundraiser for UNICEF.
He has a child with ex-girlfriend Briana Jungwirth.
HARRY STYLES
Musician, actor and style icon, Harry Styles is easily the biggest solo star spawned by One Direction.
He released his first single, โSign of the Times,โ later than the others, in 2017, but soon made up for lost time. His debut album, โHarry Styles,โ topped the album charts in the U.S., Britain and several other countries, while the second, โFine Line,โ appeared in 2019 and included the Grammy-winning โWatermelon Sugar.โ
His third album, 2022's โHarryโs House,โ topped British and U.S. charts, won album of the year at the Grammys and the Brit Awards, and was nominated for the cred-heavy Mercury Prize. The single โAs it Wasโ became his biggest hit yet, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for 15 weeks.
Stylesโ profile has been raised by a playful, adventurous fashion sense that includes a fondness for 1970s-inspired three-piece suits and bellbottomed jumpsuits.
As an actor, Styles appeared as a World War II soldier in Christopher Nolanโs โDunkirkโ before starring alongside Florence Pugh in Olivia Wildeโs dystopian thriller โDonโt Worry Darling.โ It premiered at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, where Stylesโ red-carpet appearance drew throng of fans and the approving appraisal of fashionistas. He also starred in period romance โMy Policeman,โ which premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.