One Direction

One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the group in March 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.

Propelled to global success by social media, One Direction's five albums, '' Up All Night'' (2011), '' Take Me Home'' (2012), ''Midnight Memories'' (2013), ''Four'' (2014), and '' Made in the A.M.'' (2015), topped charts in several countries, and generated hit singles including "What Makes You Beautiful" (their first number one on the UK Singles Chart, and the highest debut for a British act on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 since 1998), "Live While We're Young", "Best Song Ever", " Story of My Life" and "Drag Me Down". After the release of ''Four'', One Direction became the first band in the US ''Billboard'' 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one. Their third album, ''Midnight Memories'', was the best-selling album worldwide of 2013.

Considered teen idols, One Direction were often subject to fan hysteria. They embarked on four world tours, two of which were all-stadium. The band's Where We Are Tour, in support of ''Midnight Memories'', was the highest-grossing concert tour in 2014, the highest-grossing tour by a vocal group in history, and the 15th highest-grossing concert tour of all time, grossing $290.2 million (unadjusted for inflation). The band went on indefinite hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects.

As of 2020, the band have sold a total of 70 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. The band have 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. In 2013, they earned an estimated $75 million, becoming the second highest earning celebrity under 30 according to ''Forbes''. As the world's best-selling artist of 2013, the group was named the Global Recording Artist of the Year by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In 2014, ''Billboard'' named the band "Artist of the Year". ''Forbes'' ranked them as the fourth highest-earning celebrities in the world in 2015, and subsequently in second in 2016.

History

2010–2011: ''The X Factor''

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 all failed to progress in the "Boys" category at the bootcamp stage of the competition, but were instead put together to form a five-piece boy band, 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". However, a never-before-seen video that was released in 2022 revealed that Scherzinger played the most significant role in forming the band. In the video, it is shown that Horan was the first contestant to be chosen to be in the band, with Styles, Tomlinson, Payne, and then finally Malik being added to complete the group. The band 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 final act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.

One Direction achieved third place in the competition 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 Records record 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.

2011–2012: ''Up All Night''

Released in September 2011 in the UK and Ireland, One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", was a commercial and international success. It reached number one on the UK Singles Chart after becoming the most pre-ordered Sony 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." That same month, they released '' Up All Night'', their debut studio album, in the UK and Ireland. Critically commended for its appeal to the teenage audience, it became the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011. In December 2011, they embarked on their first headlining UK concert tour, the Up All Night Tour.

Upon One Direction's arrival in the US in February 2012, the group embarked on a radio promotion spree, as well as their first North American concert tour as an opening act for Big Time Rush, opening 16 shows after they had completed the first leg of the Up All Night Tour. That month, they announced that an Oceania leg had been added to the tour. They made their first US television appearance on ''The Today Show'', at the Rockefeller Center; an estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza. "What Makes You Beautiful" was officially released in the United States that same month, where it debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 28, becoming the highest debut for a British act since 1998. On the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it reached as high as number four. As of June 2016, it has sold 4.8 million copies in the US and over 7 million copes worldwide. ''Up All Night'' was released internationally in March, and One Direction became the first UK group to have their debut album reach number one in the US, and were inducted into the ''Guinness World Records'' as a result. After the album's international release, it topped the charts in sixteen countries. ''Up All Night'' also became the first album by a boy band to sell 500,000 digital copies in the US and, by August 2012, had sold over 3 million copies worldwide. It was the third global best-selling album of the year, selling 4.5 million copies. Following the success of the album, a North American leg of the tour was announced later that month.

The Up All Night Tour, comprising 62 shows, was met with positivity both critically and commercially, with critics praising their singing abilities and stage presence, and with tickets selling out in minutes. 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 US 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 stated, "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 Awards winning their three nominations on 6 September 2012, including Best New Artist.

In April 2012, an American band that went by the same name filed a trademark infringement lawsuit. According to the lawsuit, the US band had been using the name since 2009, recorded two albums and filed an application to register the trademark name in the US in February 2011. The US band said they were entitled to three times the profits made by the UK band, as well as compensatory damages in excess of US$1 million. 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 US group was trying to make money from One Direction's success and that the boy band was the first to use the name in US interstate commerce. The BBC
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