A One Direction Crash Course

A brief synopsis of One Direction's History.

The boys' careers began in 2010 when they auditioned for the X-Factor and throughout the show, ended up being placed in a band by Simon Cowell. The band members consisted of Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik. Over the course of 5 years, the band went on 4 world tours and released 5 albums. Sadly, in March of 2015, Zayn Malik left the band in the middle of a world tour due to suffering from mental illness. The four boys continued to make music together, until the following year when they decided to go on an 18-month-hiatus. It has now been almost 5 years since the boys performed with one another, with no end of the hiatus in sight. Join me in prayer that the boys will unite once again in the near future for the better of humanity.

One Direction Album's

Up All Night

Up All Night was the band's first album they released after coming in third place on X-Factor. Well known for the singles, What Makes You Beautiful, Gotta Be You, One Thing, and More Than This, the album was released November 18th in 2011 and consisted of 18 songs. Following this, the boys went on their first tour from December 2011 through July 2012. Soon after returning home, they quickly began working on their next album, Take Me Home.

Take Me Home

The Take Me Home album was released November 9th in 2012. The singles from this album were Live While We're Young, Little Things, and Kiss you. When the album was released in 2012, the album had 17 songs. But, on the 10-year-anniversary of one direction on July 23rd, 2020, 3 unreleased songs from this era were published to the album, leaving the album to consist of 20 songs. The boy's went on the Take Me Home Tour from February 2013 through November 2013. During this time, through the release of their Best Song Ever music video, the band announced they would be releasing a movie showcasing the Take Me Home Tour.

Midnight Memories

Next up, we have the beloved Midnight Memories. This album was released November 25th, 2013, soon after the boys returned home from their Take Me Home Tour. The album was filled with highly treasured songs from the band. From the singles Best Song Ever, Story of My Life, Midnight Memories, and You and I, to Little Black Dress, Happily and twelve other absolute bops. They went on tour for this album April 2014 through October 2014, and, like the last few albums, released their next album, FOUR, shortly after returning home.

FOUR

While FOUR is arguably one of the best albums the band released, this era is rather touchy. As I am sure you have heard, Zayn Malik was not in the band as long as the other four boys. So, this is when he left. The album was released November 17th, 2014, consisting of 16 songs. This album, having the lowest amount of singles, Steal My Girl and Night Changes, was taken on the On the Road Again Tour from February 2015 through October 2015. "When did the incident happen?" So you may ask? Well, Zayn left the band on March 25th, 2015, shortly after the tour began, with his last performance as a member of One Direction being in Hong Kong. Sad. I know. The rest of the boys, (Harry, Louis, Niall and Liam), finished out the tour and continued writing music for their fans during this difficult time.

Made In the A.M.

Made In the A.M.! What a time, a sad time. The album was released November 13th of 2015, and was followed by no tour. Shocking, I know. While this album had a different vibe, most would agree it is incredibly underrated and deserves much more hype than it received. The album consists of fourteen songs with the singles Drag Me Down, Perfect and the heart-wrenching song, History. While there is technically no confirmation to this said, "conspiracy," rumors circulated that the song "History," was a "goodbye," in a way, to both the fans and the members to each other. Are you crying yet? This release was then followed by an announcement of an 18 month hiatus, and a final performance together on December 31st, 2015. Fans still hold out hope that the boys will return as a band in the near future.

Band Members

Harry Styles

Born February 1, 1994, in Worcestershire, England.

Louis Tomlinson

Born December 24, 1991, in Doncaster, United Kingdom.

Niall Horan

Born September 13, 1993, in Mullingar, Ireland.

Zayn Malik

Born January 12, 1993 in Bradford, United Kingdom.

Liam Payne

Born August 29, 1993 in Wolverhampton, United Kingdom.

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