One Direction (commonly abbreviated as 1D) are a English-Irish pop boy band based in London, comprised of Niall Horan,Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They 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. Propelled to international success by social media, One Direction's four albums, Up All Night (2011), Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013) and Four (2014) broke records, topped charts in most major markets, and generated hit singles including "What Makes You Beautiful", "Live While We're Young", "Story of My Life" and "Steal My Girl".

Their achievements include four Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards, and nineteenTeen Choice Awards out of nineteen nominations, among many others. According to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012's "Top New Artist" by Billboard. According to the Sunday Times Rich List, by April 2013, they had an estimated personal combined wealth of £25 million ($41.2m) making them the second-wealthiest musicians in the UK under 30 years of age. In 2014, Forbes listed them the second-highest earning celebrities under 30, with the group earning an estimated $75 million from June 2013 to June 2014.

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 biggest-selling album worldwide of 2013 despite being released in later November. In 2014, Billboard named One Direction the top artist of the year

History

2010–11: The X Factor

One Direction finished in third place and immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor, was leaked onto the internet. Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Recordsrecord contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a record producer. A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. During the tour, the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album. Recording took place in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, and Rami Yacoub, among others.In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson auditioned as solo candidates for the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor. They failed to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges' houses" but were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, and Simon Cowell have both claimed to have come up with the idea of forming the band. In 2013, Cowell said that it "took him 10 minutes to put them together as a group".Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practise. Styles came up with the name One Direction. For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Cowell later commented that their performance convinced him that they "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well." Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were his last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.

2011–12: Up All Night

Released in September 2011, One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, after becoming the most pre-orderedSony Music Entertainment single in history. Subsequent singles, "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing", peaked in the UK Singles Chart top ten. In November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America. Steve Barnett, the co-chairman of Columbia Records, said it was not a difficult decision to sign One Direction; "I just thought there was a void, and maybe they could seize and hold it." "What Makes You Beautiful" was released in the United States in February 2012, where it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28, becoming the highest debut for a British act since 1998. It has sold over 4 million copies in the U.S. Upon arrival in the U.S. in February 2012, One Direction embarked on a radio promotion spree, as well as their first North American concert tour as an opening act for Big Time Rush. They made their first U.S. television appearance on The Today Show, at the Rockefeller Center; an estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza. Critically commended for its appeal to the teenage audience, One Direction's first studio album, Up All Night, was released globally in early 2012. It became the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011,and topped the charts in sixteen countries. The album bowed atop the Billboard 200 chart, making One Direction the first British group in U.S. chart history to enter at number one with their debut album. They were inducted into the Guinness World Records as a result. Up All Night also became the first album by a boy band to sell 500,000 digital copies in the U.S. and, by August 2012, had sold over 3 million copies worldwide.

In April 2012, an American band that went by the same name filed a trademark infringement lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the U.S. band had been using the name since 2009, recorded two albums and filed an application to register the trademark name in the U.S. in February 2011. The U.S. band said they were entitled to three times the profits made by the UK band, as well as compensatory damages in excess of US$1million. The lawsuit claimed that Syco and Sony Music "chose to ignore the plaintiff's rights and wilfully infringed them" after they realised in early 2011 that the two bands shared the same name. Syco Records subsequently counter-sued, suggesting the U.S. group was trying to make money from One Direction's success and that the boy band was the first to use the name in U.S. interstate commerce. The BBC reported in September 2012 that the UK group won the legal dispute over the right to keep using their band name; the U.S. band changed its name to Uncharted Shores. The change of name was announced in a joint statement that also noted both groups were happy with the outcome.

In December 2011, One Direction embarked on their first headlining UK concert tour, the Up All Night Tour. In early 2012, they announced Australasian and North American legs of the concert tour, with dates from April to July 2012. The tour, comprising 62 shows, was met with positivity both critically and commercially. A recording of a concert from the tour, Up All Night: The Live Tour, was released in May 2012. In addition to the DVD topping the charts in twenty-five countries, its global sales had exceeded 1 million copies by August 2012. One Direction's first book to be licensed in America, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, published in the United States in May 2012, topped The New York Times Best Seller list. In June 2012, Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Music Entertainment UK, stated how he expects One Direction to represent a $100 million business empire over 2013. Gatfield was quoted as saying, "What you might not know about One Direction is that they already represent a $50 million business and that's a figure we expect to double next year". In August 2012, the group's record sales exceeded 8 million singles, 3 million albums, and 1 million DVDs, and they performed "What Makes You Beautiful" at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London, which represented the handover to Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympics. One Direction were the biggest winners of the 2012 MTV Video Music Awardswinning their three nominations on 6 September 2012, including Best New Artist.

2012–13: Take Me Home

One Direction's second studio album, Take Me Home, was released in November 2012. Take Me Home was written in groups and has an average of just under five songwriters per track. Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk, who composed One Direction's hits "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing", spent six months in Stockholm developing songs for the album, and were able to shape melodies around their tones.One Direction began recording the album in May 2012, in Stockholm at Kinglet Studios. The album cover artwork features the group surrounding a traditional British K2 red telephone box, a familiar sight on the streets of the UK.Take Me Home garnered mixed reviews from music critics. There was praise for its quality of production, while it was criticised for its generic, rushed nature. The album's lead single, "Live While We're Young", released in September 2012, reached the top ten in almost every country it charted in and recorded the highest one-week opening sales figure for a song by a non-U.S. artist in the U.S. The album and its second single, "Little Things", both debuted at number one in the UK simultaneously; something that One Direction became the youngest act in British chart history to achieve. Take Me Home sold 540,000 copies in its first week in the U.S., debuted atop the Billboard 200, and topped the charts in more than thirty-four other countries. Additionally, Up All Night and Take Me Home were the number three and number four best-selling albums of 2012 globally, each album selling over 5 million units worldwide.

One Direction performed "Little Things" at the 2012 Royal Variety Performance in the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, and headlined a sold-out show at New York City's Madison Square Garden on 3 December 2012.

In February 2013, One Direction released a cover version of "One Way or Another" and "Teenage Kicks", "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)", as the 2013 Comic Reliefsingle. As part of their involvement with the UK charity, One Direction travelled to Ghana to volunteer at a children's hospital, visit a school and make donations.

In addition, the Official Charts Company revealed that One Direction had sold 2,425,000 records in the UK by February 2013. One Direction embarked on their second concert tour in February 2013, the Take Me Home Tour. The concert tour consists of over 100 shows in Europe, North America and Australasia. Ticket sales reached 300,000 within a day of release in the UK and Ireland, which included a six-date sell-out at London's The O2 Arena. In the Australian and New Zealand markets, tickets grossed US$15.7 million, with all 190,000 tickets being sold for the eighteen shows to be held. The tour received critical acclaim from music critics who praised the band's live vocals and their performance abilities and was a commercial success, selling 1,635,000 tickets from 134 shows.

2013–14: Midnight Memories and This Is Us

One Direction: This Is Us, a 3D documentary and concert movie about the group directed by Morgan Spurlock and produced by Spurlock, Ben Winston, Adam Milano and Simon Cowell, was released by TriStar Pictures on 30 August 2013.The film features the song "Best Song Ever", released on 22 July 2013. "Best Song Ever" slated to serve as the lead single of the group's third studio album Midnight Memories.The film was a box office success, topping the UK and U.S. box offices and grossing over $60 million worldwide. It is currently the fourth highest grossing concert movie

On 16 May 2013, the band announced their first stadium tour, the Where We Are Tour, which began in April 2014. They plan to donate £200,000 of the tour's ticket sales to the Stand Up to Cancer charity.

On 30 May 2013, the band announced a partnership with Office Depot on a limited-edition capsule collection of back to school supplies. They also confirmed that a portion of the proceeds from the alliance would go toward an anti-bullying educational program intended to promote kinder behavior in schools. The campaign has raised over one million dollars.

On 23 November 2013, in support of Midnight Memories, the band participated in "1D Day",a day dedicated to One Direction fans. The day constituted of a landmark 7.5 hour socially interactive YouTube live-stream featuring live band performances, celebrity guests including, Simon Cowell, Cindy Crawford, Piers Morgan, Jerry Springer and many more. The event was unique not only because of its long runtime but the unprecedented use of social media whereby fans got to participate in the show interact directly with the band via Google+ Hangout.

Midnight Memories was released globally on 25 November 2013. The album was described by the band as edgier and as having a "slightly rockier tone" than their previous efforts. "Story of My Life" was revealed as the second single of the album with each member posting a photo from their childhood. Afterwards, the cover of the single was posted on the One Direction account. On 11 October 2013, One Direction revealed the cover and track listing for the album with the track listing being revealed through a "#MidnightMemoriesTrackQuiz" on Twitter. It was confirmed that the band would perform on both the American and British versions of The X Factor in order to promote their album.

The album debuted at number one in the UK and in the U.S., making them the first group to debut at number one on the Billboard 200 with its first three albums, and the second to reach the top after The Monkees in 1967.

In December 2013, One Direction broke yet another UK sales record with the DVD and Blu-ray release of their 3-D concert film "This is Us". In point of fact, nearly 270,000 copies of the movie were sold in the UK within three days of its release, beating the record previously set by Michael Jackson's This Is It in 2010 by 10,000 copies.The group was named Top Global artists of 2013 by the IFPI because of strong digital downloads, physical albums, on-demand streams, and music videos.

2014–present: Four

On 27 April 2014, it was confirmed that One Direction were working on their fourth studio album. Good Charlotte was reported to have collaborated with Payne and Tomlinson for writing songs.Payne claimed that the album would be "edgier" and the group have written most of the songs for it. On 21 July, One Direction announced an upcoming concert film as an initial home media release titled One Direction: Where We Are - The Concert Film, which documents the 28 and 29 June 2014 concerts that took place in San Siro Stadium during their Where We Are Tour. After the announcement, the band announced the film will also have a limited 10–11 October 2014 international cinema release before its home media release in November 2014 An autobiography book Who We Are has been announced for a release on 25 September 2014.

On 8 September, One Direction announced their fourth studio album to be titled Four, set to be released on 17 November 2014. As part of the announcement, one of the songs from the album, "Fireproof" was released for free download for 24 hours on their official website.On 14 September, it was announced the album's first official single "Steal My Girl" would be released on 29 September. The music video was released on 24 October. On 28 October, it was reported that another One Direction music video was in production, suggesting that another single would be released. It was later confirmed that the second single of the album would be "Night Change".The track was released on 14 November, three days before the album's release. Four was released on 17 November, topping the Billboard 200 and the UK Album Chartonce again.

On 22 November, it was reported that tour manager Paul Higgins, who has been with the group since its formation, has parted ways with the band. In an E! News article posted on 4 December, Styles and Tomlinson were listed as the third most reblogged "ship" on Tumblr within the year, along with Styles and Horan being the ninth, and Payne and Malik being the fifteenth. The band confirmed at the BBC Music Awards that following the success of Four, they had hopes to continue to go "somewhere else" on their fifth album

CONCERT TOURS:

1. UP ALL NIGHT

   The Up All Night Tour was the first headlining concert tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction, showcasing their debut album, Up All Night (2011). It began in December 2011 and was One Direction's first solo tour after being formed in the seventh series of The X Factor and being signed to Syco Records. The concert tour was announced in September 2011 with the initial British and Irish dates being revealed. The concert tour was managed by Modest! Management, the shows were backed by a four-piece musical band, and the creative assessments were handled by Caroline Watson and Lou Teasdale, among others. After the initial concert tour concluded in January 2012, shortly afterwards, the concert tour expanded with legs in Oceania and North America. They ultimately played over 60 shows in Europe, Oceania and North America.

The setlist encompassed songs from One Direction's debut album and five covers. Commentators commended One Direction's singing abilities and stage presence, and the production of the show. The Up All Night Tour was a commercial success, with additional matinée and evening shows being performed at several venues. A recording of the Up All Night Tour was filmed during One Direction's January 2012 show at the International Centre in Bournemouth. Documenting the whole concert with intersperses of backstage footage, a video album, Up All Night: The Live Tour, was released on DVD in May 2012. The video concert DVD was a global success, topping the charts in twenty-five countries and setting an unprecedented US chart record. By August 2012, the video album had sold in excess of one million copies worldwide

Opening Acts:

1. Boyce Avenue (UK-Ireland)

2. Camryn (North America)

3. Justice Crew (Australia)

4. Matt Lonsdale (UK & Ireland)

5. Annah Mac (New Zealand)

6. Manika (North America)

7. Olly Murs (North America)

8. Johnny Ruffo (Australia)

Setlist:

1. Na Na Na

2. Stand Up

3. I wish

4. Medley: "i gotta feeling" /"stereo hearts" / "valerie" / "torn"

5. Moments

6. Gotta Be You

7. More Than This

8. Up All Night

9. Tell Me A Lie 

10. Everything About You

11. Use Somebody

12. One Thing

13. Save You Tonight

14. What Makes You Beautiful

2. TAKE ME HOME

The Take Me Home Tour was the second headlining concert tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction. Announced by member Liam Payne at the 2012 BRIT Awards in early 2012, the original concert tour was billed as the UK & Ireland Arena Tour. In mid-2012, the concert tour expanded with legs in North America and Australia following the band's international breakthrough. The concert tour visited arenas and stadiums from February through November 2013. The concert tour commenced at London's O2 Arena on 23 February 2013. The tour was documented in the film One Direction: This Is Us directed by Morgan Spurlock The Take Me Home Tour was commercially successful, with sold-out shows and demand for tickets prompting organisers to add more dates to the itinerary. The concert tour consisted of over 100 shows in Australia, Asia, Europe, and North America. In the UK and Ireland, ticket sales reached 1,000 within a day of release, which included a six-date sell out at the O2 Arena in London. In Australian and New Zealand markets, tickets grossed US$15.7 million, with all 190,000 tickets being sold for eighteen shows held in Australia and New Zealand. The tour placed at number 10 on Pollstar's Year-End Top 20 Worldwide Tours list, grossing $114 million from the 129 shows.

Opening Acts:

1. Camryn (Europe)

2. 5 seconds of summer (UK,North America,Australia,New Zealand)

3. Olly Murs (Japan)

Setlist:

1. Up All Night

2. C'mon C'mon

3. I Would

4. Heart Attack

5. More Than This

6. Loved You First

7. One Thing

8. Change My Mind

9. One Way Or Another

10. Last First Kiss

11. Moments

12. Back For You

13. Summer Love

14. Over Again

15. Little Things

16. Teeange Dirtbag

17. Rock Me

18. She's not Afraid

19. Kiss You

20. Live While Were Young

21. What Makes You Beautiful

3. WHERE WE ARE

The Where We Are Tour was the third headlining concert tour by English-Irish boy band One Direction. The concert tour visited stadiums from April through October 2014 with addition to special performances in Las Vegas on 20 September 2014 for theiHeartRadio Music Festival. The concert tour officially kicked off on 25 April 2014 at El Campín Stadium in Bogotá, Colombia and concluded on 5 October 2014 at Sun Life Stadium in Miami, Florida. It promoted the band's third studio album, Midnight Memories, also announced along with the tour. Australian pop/rock band 5 Seconds of Summer served as opening act for UK, European and US tour dates.The tour grossed $290 million in sales after 69 performances with total attendance of 3.4 million. It became the 13th highest grossing concert tour of all time

Setlist

This set list is representative of the performance on August 4, 2014. It does not represent all concerts for the duration of the tour.

1. Midnight Memories
2. Little Black Dress
3. Kiss You
4. Why Dont We Go There
5. Rock Me
6. Dont Forget Where You Belong
7. Live While Were Young
8. C;mon C;mon
9. Right Now
10. Through The Dark
11. Happily
12. Little Things
13. Moments
14. Strong
15. Better Than Words
16. Alive
17. One Thing
18. Diana
19. What Makes You Beauiful

Encore:
20. You and I
21. Story of My Life
22. Little White Lies
23. Best Song Ever

4. ON THE ROAD AGAIN

The On The Road Again Tour (also referred to as OTRA or OTRAT) is One Direction's fourth headlining tour. It was announced on May 19, 2014 and presented by Telstra.The tour was announced on May 19, 2014 on Twitter and Facebook. The dates for the first 19 shows - which were in in Australia, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, Philippines, Indonesia, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates - were released ranging from early February till the end of April. 23 shows in Europe and the USA were later added from early June until early September. A following 6 Canadian dates were added. Due to the high demand for tickets, numerous extra shows were added.

Announcements

A video was released on May 10, 2014 from the boys, announcing that they'd be playing in the Philippines for one show in Manila on March 21st, 2015
Another video was released on May 18th, 2014 where the boys announced they would be performing live in South Africa for the "very first time next year" on March 28th, 29th and April 1st, 2015 in 2 different stadiums
The Australian shows were announced during an interview on the Australian breakfast tv show "Today". Niall revealed they'd be playing shows in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth where some of the big sporting teams had also played.
The Singapore announcement video was released on May 19, 2014 revealing the date and location of the concert: March 11th and the "New National Stadium", respectively
The Dubai announcement video was also released on May 19th and consists of the boys telling fans the date of the show (April 5th, 2015) and to "keep up with up and all the news about our first ever Dubai show by liking One Direction Dubai on facebook"
The Japan announcement video was also released on the 19th of May, and in it they revealed they would be in Japan in February 2015 and expressed how "amazing it was last time" and that they "can't wait to be there again"
In the Thailand announcement video, which was also released on May 19th, they confirmed they would "finally" be playing in Bangkok in Rajamangala Stadium on March 14th.
In the Indonesia announcement, also released on May 19th, they said that they "can't wait to see you" and revealed the date (Wednesday, March 25, 2015) and the venue (Stadium Utama Gelora Bung Karno).
Hong Kong was also announced on the 19th of May. In the video, Harry said that "we cannot wait to come and see you" and revealed the date to be March 18, 2015. On October 23, 2014, they tweeted, alongside the reminder of a 5th clip from the Steal My Girl video, that they had a "special announcement" at 4pm. The tweet at 4pm revealed that they had released European and USA dates to the previously announced dates. On the 24th of October they released another set of dates for Canada

                                                             

Opening Acts

To be confirmed.

Setlist

1. Where Do Broken Hearts Go - from their fourth album, Four

2. Stockholm Syndrome - from their fourth album, Four

3. Change Your Ticket - from their fourth album, Four

4. Ready to Run - from their fourth album, Four

5. 18 - from their fourth album, Four

6. No Control - from their fourth album, Four

7. Midnight Memories (song) - from their third album, Midnight Memories

8. Act My Age - from their fourth album, Four

9. Fool's Gold - from their fourth album, Four

10. Little Things - from their second album, Take Me Home

11. Clouds - from their fourth album, Four

12. Night Changes - from their fourth album, Four

13. Story of My Life - from their third album, Midnight Memories

14. One Thing - from their first album, Up All Night

15. Illusion - from their fourth album, Four

16. Live While We're Young - from their second album, Take Me Home

17. Girl Almighty - from their fourth album, Four

18. Kiss You - from their second album, Take Me Home

19. Best Song Ever - from their third album, Midnight Memories

20. What Makes You Beautiful - from their first album, Up All Night (their debut single)

21. You & I - from their third album, Midnight Memories

22. Spaces - from their fourth album, Four

23. Steal My Girl - from their fourth album, Four

TOUR DATES ON HERE

MEMBER:

                     

1. Niall Horan

  Niall James Horan, born 13 September 1993 (age 21), is from Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. The younger son of two boys born to Bobby Horan and Maura Horan, now Maura Gallagher, he has an older brother named Greg. Their parents divorced when he was five. He and his brother lived between each of their homes for a few years before eventually deciding to live with their father in Mullingar. Horan was a pupil at Coláiste Mhuire, a boys' Christian Brothers school. He was in his school's choir, performing seasonally around Christmas.

Prior to participating in The X Factor at age 16, he performed around his homeland, including as a support act for Lloyd Daniels in Dublin. Horan has been playing guitar since his childhood. Horan has also stated that he is a "big swing" fan, citing favourite artists Frank Sinatra, Dean Martinand Michael Bublé. Horan liked rock music and is a fan of The Eagles, Bon Jovi and The Script. He supports Football League Championship side Derby County

2. Zayn Malik

  Zain Javadd "Zayn" Malik,born 12 January 1993 (age 22), is from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.His father, Yaser Malik, is British Pakistani, and his mother, Tricia (née Brannan) Malik, is of Irish and English descent. He has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa.

He grew up in East Bowling,was a pupil at Lower Fields Primary School, and went to Tong High School, a state comprehensive school. Malik did not fit in at his first two schools due to his mixed heritage. Malik has stated that he started taking pride in his appearance after moving schools at the age of twelve. Upon auditioning for The X Factor, he stated: "I was looking for an experience". He cites urban music as his main musical influence, growing up, he was into R&B and rap. He as well as other members of One Direction further notes artists such as Bruno Mars, as a "dream collaborator." Malik is a heavy cigarette smoker; in late 2011, he expressed his desire to quit. Malik is Muslim, and once affirmed that by tweeting "La ila ha ill lalla ho muhammed door rasoolalah" (declaration of faith, meaning: "There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah"). In June 2012, Malik's approach to Islam was criticised by blogger Debbie Schlussel, who accused him of advertising Islam to young fans; at the same time, he was criticised, on Twitter, by conservative Muslims, for not taking Islamic doctrine seriously enough. In July 2014, during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict, Malik tweeted the message "#FreePalestine" to his 13 million Twitter followers, reportedly provoking anger from One Direction fans in Israel.

As of 18 August 2013, Malik is engaged to singer Perrie Edwards, of girl group Little Mix.Malik, along with Styles and Tomlinson, support Manchester United. He also supports Pakistan's national cricket team and once tweeted when Pakistan lost the Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-finals

3. Harry Styles

  Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English pop singer-songwriter, known as a member of the boy band One Direction. He made his debut as a singer with his band White Eskimo, who performed locally in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England. In 2010, Styles auditioned as a solo artist for the British television series The X Factor. After being eliminated as a solo performer, Styles was brought back into the competition, along with four other contestants, to form the group that would later become known as One Direction.

A native of Holmes Chapel, Styles attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, and also worked part-time at a local bakery. He finished his education after taking his GCSEs, as his career had taken off. He became interested in singing at a young age, performing at various talent shows, singing competitions and weddings. In addition to singing, Styles has also appeared in television and film, including the Nickelodeon series iCarly and the autobiographical concert film One Direction: This Is Us.

Since joining One Direction, Styles, along with bandmates Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson, has released four commercially successful albums, performed on a worldwide tour, and won several awards, including two BRIT Awards and fourMTV Video Music Awards. One Direction's debut single "What Makes You Beautiful" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, and has since sold over 5 million copies worldwide, making it among one the best-selling singles of all time.

4. Liam Payne

   Liam James Payne (born August 29, 1993) is a member of One Direction along with Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik.Liam was born in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England , UK to Geoff and Karen Payne. He has two older sisters, Nicola and Ruth. Liam was born three weeks early, and as a result he had a lot of health problems. He spent the first four years of his life in and out of the hospital having regular tests done. Doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain, he had 32 injections in his arm in the morning and evening as a child. In 2012 Liam found out and shared via Twitter that his kidney was functioning again.

From the age of six, Liam had Begun to start showing signs of singing talent. He would sing for his relatives or pub crowds on karaoke. However, he had his heart set on becoming an Olympic runner, and was a member of the Wolverhampton and Bilston Athletics Club. He would wake up at 5am every day to run five miles before school. His running dream ended at 14 years old when he narrowly missed out on a spot in the England schools team. At that point, he decided to completely focus on his singing, although he still loved his football club, West Bromwich Albion.

He started perfecting his singing skills at the age of 12 when he joined Pink Productions, a performing arts group based in Wolverhampton, that allowed him to showcase his talent in front of a real audience for the first time. Liam completed 11 GCSEs at St Peter’s Collegiate School before moving on to study music technology at Wolverhampton College’s Paget Road campus, which he hoped would help him learn more about the industry

5. Louis Tomlinson

   Louis William Tomlinson (born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English pop singer-songwriter, and actor, known as a member of the boy band One Direction. He is also joint-owner of Football League One side Doncaster Rovers.

Tomlinson began his career as an actor, initially appearing in ITV drama Fat Friends as an extra. He also went on to appear in another ITV drama film If I Had You and the BBC drama Waterloo Road. In 2010, he became a founding member of the pop bandOne Direction which went on to finish third in the 2010 series of The X Factor. In 2013, he was signed as a footballer by Doncaster Rovers of the Football League Championship on a non-contract basis.