| Biography | One Direction, often shortened to 1D, is an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London, England in 2010. The band is composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson; former member Zayn Malik departed from the group in 2015. The group signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010.
The group has won nearly 200 awards including seven Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, seven American Music Awards (including Artist of the Year in 2014 and 2015), and 28 Teen Choice Awards. They have embarked on four world tours, two of which were all-stadium.
After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the U.S. Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one. Their third album, Midnight Memories, was the best-selling album worldwide in 2013 with 4 million copies sold globally. The band went on hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects. |