One Direction is a boyband from the United Kingdom that was formed in 2010. The current group members are Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson. The former member, Zayn Malik, had left the band in 2015. Since 2016 the group went on indefinite hiatus, after which each member pursued their solo projects. O’Brien (n.d.) reports that the group was discovered during the seventh series of the British TV show X-Factor. It is a televised singing competition, where all five boys auditioned as solo artists. They were picked up as a group by X-Factor judge Simon Cowell and offered a contract by Syco Records.
The band performs their music in pop and pop-rock genres. Their impact on pop culture was immeasurable, and most of it came from their image as teen idols. The band has one of the biggest fan bases in the world due to its successful debut in 2012. They became the first British music band to reach the top of the Billboard 200 list for their first album, Up All Night (O’Brien, n.d.). Mccormick (2012) described the success of One Direction as the market’s need for “clean-cut, wholesome, whiter-than-white, middle-class parent-friendly pop: cute boys advocating puppy love.”
One Direction has been my favorite band since the second half of 2012 because their songs are full of beautiful lyricism peppered with catchy choruses and powerful guitar riffs. Their music is available on all music platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music. Unfortunately, I think the band will never perform together again since all of the members succeeded in their solo projects. One Direction has sold over 70 million records worldwide throughout its career (O’Brien, n.d.). After the decade since the band’s debut, their music continues to inspire many new artists.
References
Mccormick, N. (2012). The Wanted & One Direction: Why British boybands are conquering America. The Telegraph. Web.
O’Brien, J. (n.d.). One Direction. All Music. Web.