After more than ten years since their debut, the 5 boys are now making their own progress in their solo careers.
One Direction is one of the few successful boybands in the US-UK music market in the first half of the 2010s. Active for only 6 years, the teenage boys came out of the reality TV show X Factor. has sold 36 million records worldwide, owns a series of “huge” hits such as: What Makes You Beatiful, Drag Me Down, Story of My Life,… and a large “army” of fans around the world.
The five members of One Direction on The X-Factor UK stage back in the day.
After temporarily suspending activities in January 2016, each member of the group chose their own direction. On the occasion of March 22, 2020, One Direction’s contract officially expired as well as marking a decade of “storming” for this British boyband, let’s take a look at five boys. What are you doing that day?
Harry Styles
When talking about One Direction, it’s impossible not to mention the name Harry Styles because right from the time he was active in the group, he was one of the members with the most fans. Therefore, it is completely understandable that the solo career of the 26-year-old male singer is quite favorable. Only 5 months after the group stopped working, he founded his own record label called Erksine Records to release personal music products.
MV Sign Of The Time.
In May 2017, male singer Sweet Creatures officially released his self-titled debut solo album and lead single Sign Of The Time. Despite the 180-degree change in music style from vibrant pop songs to rock-influenced songs of the 60s and 70s, the album Harry Styles still “gently” debuted at No.1 UK. Album Charts (57,000 copies), No.1 Billboard 200 (230,000 copies), brought a No.4 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 and countless compliments from critics. When asked if he regretted his time in the group and wanted to go solo sooner, he answered:
“When someone leaves the group, they’re gone. But that’s not me, I stay. That used to be me. And I don’t feel like I’m ‘stuck’ at all. It used to be fun.”
After completing Harry Styles: The Tour, in May 2019, he surprised fans when he became the “host” of the biggest fashion event of the year – Met Gala 2019. From the moment Hey, the image of Taylor Swift’s one-time boyfriend has had a dramatic change. From the masculine, dashing image that once made many hearts crazy, we now see a completely different Harry Styles wearing outfits ranging from feminine to genderless, colorful makeup, and The photo set shocked the online community.
The boy we once pursued now wears fishnet stockings and heavy makeup but is still very… handsome.
In December 2019, the Sign of the Times singer returned with his second studio album titled Fine Line and achieved even more success than his debut product both artistically and commercially. In the first week of release, Fine Line quickly sold 478,000 units (including 393,000 pure copies) and excellently brought Harry another No.1 Billboard 200. The song Adore You is currently at number one. 7th place on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and is expected to continue to increase in the near future. It is no exaggeration to say that Harry Styles has the most successful solo career among the five One Direction members.
MV Adore You.
Zayn Malik
Suddenly leaving the group in April 2015, Zayn Malik broke many hearts because from then on, fans will no longer see the five boys standing on a common stage. Even though he hasn’t had any tours yet, in the past five years, Gigi Hadid’s boyfriend has still managed to release two solo albums and a number of successful collaborations with other artists.
MV PILLOWTALK.
After signing a contract with record label RCA Records, the 27-year-old pop star only took half a year to launch her first solo music project called PILLOWTALK, which quickly became a sensation and climbed straight to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart this week. Firstly. By March 2016, his R&B debut solo album Mind of Mine was officially released and it was not unexpected to add two No.1s on the album charts in the UK and US with sales. 22,250 and 157,000 copies and 40.8 million online streams, respectively.
Mind of Mine album cover.
During the period 2016 – 2017, Zayn Malik continuously won with quality combination products that earned hundreds of millions of views on Youtube such as: I Don’t Wanna Live Forever (singing with Taylor Swift), Dusk Till Dawn ( combined with Sia), unfortunately, the glory did not last long. Returning after 2 years of absence, Zayn and his new album titled Icarus Falls have set an extremely “resounding” new record – album sales The worst first week in USUK music history to date. Experts predict that Zayn’s album will sell 15,000 to 20,000 copies in the first week, but only 5,000 pure copies. Releasing 6 singles to promote the album including Let Me, Entertainer, Sour Diesel, Too Much, Fingers and No Candle No Light but none of them became big hits in the market, the new album title really “plays” on the popularity of the album. male singer’s career when he took a painful fall.
Zayn Malik really “fell” after the album Icarus Fall.
Zayn Malik no longer retains the same aura as he did in 2016 – 2017.
Niall Horan
Although not as successful as his two colleagues, Niall Horan has had relatively steady steps in his career. After spending almost the entire period of 2016 – the second half of 2017 releasing a series of 5 promotional singles, in October 2017, he officially released his debut album titled Ficker with sales in the first week. is about 152,000 units.
On March 13, Niall returned to the music industry with his second studio album Heartbreak Weather. Although he only debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart, the above music product is still enough to stir up the UK market by bringing the male singer another No.1 this year.
Album Heartbreak Weather.
Louis Tomlinson
Louis Tomlinson also established a record label called Triple Strings Ltd, but Louis Tomlinson’s activities were quite small. It took 4 years for his debut album with 12 songs called Walls to be released. Unfortunately, the above product only sold a mere 39,000 units in the first week of release, sadly debuting at number 9 on the Billboard 200 chart.
MV Back To You.
During the “break” period, although he did not release a complete album, the father of one child still tried to keep up the heat by releasing many single songs and different combinations. Among them, the most prominent is the hit “Back to You” featuring Bebe Rexha’s vocals, which earned more than 400 million views on Youtube, reaching number 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2017. Unfortunately, the team of The guy doesn’t seem to know how to take advantage of the opportunity to bring Louis’ name to a new level.
The name Louis Tomlinson is now quite obscure in the public eye.
Liam Payne
If we say Louis Tomlison had the lackluster career after leaving the group, people wouldn’t know what words to use to talk about Liam Payne. The male singer did not have a chance to shine when his debut solo song “Strip That Down” which “disparaged” One Direction also created certain effects and even reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100.
MV Live Forever.
Unfortunately, the Bedroom Floor vocalist’s subsequent musical products, for some unknown reason, gradually faded away. The extended single (EP) First Time released in 2018 was completely “submerged” on all fronts to the point that many audiences did not even know about its appearance. His debut album LP1, which was just released in December 2019, was even more… “unsightly” when sales in the first week were only 9,500 copies, ranked 111th on the Billboard 200. Not only that, the song The song Both Ways in this album was also “stoned” by the online community when… accused of insulting the bisexual community.
After leaving the group, his beauty became more and more beautiful, but his career… was the opposite.
Conclude
After a decade of One Direction debuting to the public, there are members who have endured in the harsh entertainment industry and shine even brighter than before; There are also people who gradually become faded as their music careers decline. And you, who do you think is the most successful solo member? Are you still looking forward to the day when all five members reunite and stand on the same stage?
