Harry, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Louis continue their careers after massive success in the 2010s boy band.
“You don’t know your beautiful, oh, oh, that’s what makes you beautiful,” were the song lyrics by British boy band One Direction (1D) that every teenage girl in America was singing the summer of 2012. 1D was the boy band of the 2010’s, and “What Makes You Beautiful” was by far their most popular song.
1D released several other popular hits and was famous for its cult following. Every teenage girl daydreamed about Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne or Louis Tomlinson.
The English and Irish teenage boys met on the popular British singing show, “The X-Factor,” in 2010. Simon Cowell grouped them as a boy band and they placed third on the show. The band went on to release five albums together before going on hiatus in 2016.
What are the boys up to now? Since splitting up, they have all pursued their solo singing careers. First up is Malik, who left the band in 2015.
Malik has released two solo albums since 1D. Less than a year after leaving the band, he released his first album, “Mind of Mine.” He also released an autobiography in 2016 called, “Zayn: the Official Autobiography.”
In 2017, he collaborated with Taylor Swift on a single, “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever,” which was on the “50 Shades Darker” soundtrack. His latest album, which was released in December 2018 is titled “Icarus Falls.”
As far as his personal life goes, Malik had a high-profile relationship with Gigi Hadid for a few years before breaking up in early 2019. This past month, Malik listed his Soho apartment for sale, which is a few blocks from Hadid’s New York place.
Styles and his hair were the other high-profile members of the band. Since the band split, he has released one solo album in 2017 titled “Harry Styles.” He also appeared in the war movie, “Dunkirk,” that same year. After his last tour ended in July 2018, Styles has been on hiatus writing music for his next album. He just took a break from his hiatus to release the single, “Lights Up,” last week.
Horan was the Irish member of the band. He has released a solo album titled “Flicker.” Since his 2017 album and tour, he has released a couple of singles and is currently taking a break to write tracks for his new album.
Tomlinson was the oldest member of the band. He has yet to release a solo album, but he has released a few singles, most recently “The Two of Us” in early 2019. Tomlinson has also started his own record label, a spin-off of Simon Cowell’s company.
In his personal life, he welcomed a son in 2016 with his girlfriend. Most recently he was a judge and mentor on the US X Factor.
Finally, Payne is the last member of the band. He has released several singles as well as collaborations since 2016. He released his debut EP, “First Time,” in 2018. He just released a single, “Stack it up,” in September of this year.
He is the second member of the band to have a son, which he welcomed in 2017. He also announced a fashion partnership with the brand HUGO in 2019.
Although the band is no longer together, they seem to be doing pretty well individually. Despite the boy band of my teens no longer being together, I can console myself with the fact that they are still making music. Now, I am going to go listen to “What Makes You Beautiful” for the umpteenth time.
