One Direction in photos: then and now

Think back to the year 2010 when the British ITV channel premiered the seventh season of the successful music talent show ‘The X Factor’. At that moment, who could have imagined that this edition would be the seed of one of the best boy bands in the history of contemporary music?

Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson entered the show separately but Nicole Scherzinger was the visionary judge who proposed they join together in a band and Simon Cowell who put up the money for their first record deal.

And that's despite the fact that the band didn't win the talent show, they came third, but Simon Cowell saw five diamonds in the rough that, with a little polishing, were going to shine very brightly. He wasn't wrong.

In the second half of 2011 they released their first single, ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, which went to number 1 in the UK and Ireland, as did ‘Up All Night’, their first album. It was the first hit of many to come.

The five-member band lasted barely five years, but it gave them time to release five studio albums, tour the world four times, sell millions of records and create a fandom not seen since the days of BackStreet Boys and NSYNC.

Then it came to 25 March 2015 and ‘One Direction’ announced Zayn Malik's departure from the group. It was a one-sided decision, which angered the rest of the band, but it was final. One Direction would never be the same again, even though the other four members continued to work together.

Two years later, all the band members had released solo singles and, as of today, ‘One Direction’ is nothing more than a fond memory of an overwhelming and fleeting success that could have been legendary. What has happened to its members?

Harry Styles has undoubtedly been the most successful solo artist of all the band members. The artist has released three studio albums ‘Harry Styles’ (2017), ‘Fine Line’ (2019) and ‘Harry's House’ (2022), his live act has earned him two Grammys: Best Pop Performance for ‘Watermelon Sugar’ (2021) and Album of the Year for ‘Harry's House’ (2023).

As if that wasn't enough, Harry Styles has already made his journey into cinema, participating in films such as ‘Dunkirk’ (2017) and ‘Don't Worry Darling’ (2022). He is known for his style and is one of the most desired men on the planet. Not so bad.

Zayn Malik was going from strength to strength in his solo career. His first single, ‘Pillowtalk’ (2016) was a global hit, as was his debut album ‘Mind of Mine’ (2016) but his career has languished over the years.

Since then, Zayn Malik has released three more studio albums: ‘Icarus Falls’ (2018), 'Nobody is Listening' (2021) and 'Room Under the Stairs' (2024), all of which have passed relatively unnoticed by the world.

Louis Tomlinson can boast a loyal fandom that has supported him through tough times, such as the death of his mother in 2016, or that of his little sister in 2019.

Musically, the Doncaster singer has released two studio albums, ‘Walls’ (2020) and ‘Faith in the Future’ (2022), which have not been as successful as expected.

Niall Horan has also reached three studio albums: ‘Flicker’ (2017), ‘Heartbreak Weather’ (2020) and ‘The Show’ (2023), although his sound has been veering from pop to soft rock, finding a more personal and recognisable style.

In 2023 he made his debut as a coach on ‘The Voice USA’ and, in, 2024 he has had resounding success with his ‘The Show’ tour. As fate would have it, his partner and friend Liam Payne went to see him in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 2 October, two weeks before he lost his life.

Liam Payne was the most affected by the band's split, as he considered his friends and bandmates ‘the best people in the world and the best thing that ever happened to him’, as he said in several Instagram posts.

As a solo artist, he was the least prolific of the former band members, with just one album ‘LP1’, released in 2019, although he did have collaborations with artists such as Jonas Blue, French Montana and Rita Ora, but his solo career never really took off.

Unfortunately, on 16 October 2024, Liam Payne fell out of the third-floor window of the hotel where he was staying in Buenos Aires, after going to Niall Horan's concert. He sadly lost his life, leaving Liam Payne and One Direction fans devastated. Payne was buried in his hometown Wolverhampton on November 20, 2024.

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