爱华网OneDirection are a British-Irish boy band formed in London in2010, consisting of members Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne,Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They signed with Simon Cowell'srecord label Syco Records after being formed and finishing third inthe seventh series of British television music competition The XFactor. They subsequently signed in North America with ColumbiaRecords. One Direction came to international prominence with theglobal release of their debut album Up All Night in early 2012.Buoyed by the international hit "What Makes You Beautiful", thealbum topped charts worldwide and saw One Direction inducted intothe Guinness World Records, by debuting at number one on the USBillboard 200 chart, making One Direction the first British groupin US chart history to debut at number one with their first album.Preceded by record-breaking lead single, "Live While We're Young",the group's second studio album Take Me Home is scheduled forrelease on 12 November 2012. A follow-up world tour is set to runfor most of 2013, with tickets grossing US$15.7 million for theirAustralian and New Zealand dates. Besides their musical endeavours,One Direction have supported various charities and foundations, andhave commercial endorsements with Pokémon, Nokia, HarperCollins andHasbro. One Direction have been described as sparking a resurgencein the boy band concept, and of forming part of a new "BritishInvasion" in the United States. Generating millions in combinedmusic, merchandising and touring sales, as of June 2012, accordingto Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony MusicEntertainment UK, One Direction represent an US$50 million businessempire. By August 2012, One Direction have sold 12 million records.Their achievements include a BRIT Award and 3 MTV Video MusicAwards. The Huffington Post proclaimed 2012 "The Year of OneDirection". History: The X Factor, formation and record deal(2010-11): In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, HarryStyles and Louis Tomlinson auditioned as solo candidates for theseventh series of British television music competition The XFactor. Failing to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges'houses", after a suggestion by guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, theywere put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena,London, England, 23 July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of thecompetition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category.Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to knoweach other and to practise. Styles came up with the name OneDirection as he thought it would sound good when The X Factorannouncer read their name out on the live shows. For theirqualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as agroup, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". In thelive shows, after the elimination of F.Y.D., Diva Fever and BelleAmie within four weeks, they were Simon Cowell's last act in thecompetition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK. OneDirection finished in third place behind runner-up Rebecca Fergusonand winner Matt Cardle. Immediately after the final, their song"Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won TheX Factor, was leaked onto the internet. Shortly afterwards it wasconfirmed, One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a £2 millionSyco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album beganin January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with producerRedOne. In February, One Direction and nine other contestants fromthe series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. The tour saw thegroup performing for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After thetour concluded that April, the group continued working on theirdébut album, recording took place in Sweden, UK, and the UnitedStates, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, SavanKotecha, Steve Mac, and Rami Yacoub, among others. Up All Night andinternational breakthrough (2011-12): Released in September 2011,One Direction's debut single "What Makes You Beautiful" debuted atnumber one on the UK Singles Chart, after becoming the mostpre-ordered Sony Music Entertainment single in history. Subsequentsingles "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing" both peaked within the UKSingles Chart top ten. In November 2011, they signed a record dealwith Columbia Records in North America. "What Makes You Beautiful"was released in the United States in February 2012, where itdebuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28, becoming the highestdebut for a British act since 1998. It peaked at number 4 and hassold over 3 million units in the US. Upon arrival in the US inFebruary 2012, One Direction embarked on a radio promotion spree,as well as their first American concert tour as an opening act forBig Time Rush. They made their first television appearance in theUS on The Today Show on 12 March at the Rockefeller Center, anestimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza. Critically commendedfor its appeal to the teenage audience, One Direction's debutstudio album, Up All Night, was released globally in early 2012. Itbecame the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011, and topped thecharts in sixteen countries. Garnering One Direction a place in theGuinness World Records, it debuted at number one on the USBillboard 200 chart, making One Direction the first British groupin US chart history to debut at number one with their debut album.As of July 2012, Up All Night is 2012's second biggest-sellingalbum in the US. By August 2012, the album has sold over 3 millionunits worldwide. One Direction attended the 2012 Brit Awards atwhich "What Makes You Beautiful" won the BRIT Award for BestBritish Single. In April 2012, an American band from California,who went by the same name, filed a trademark infringement lawsuit.One Direction were sued in the United States by a group of the samename for $1 million in damages and asked for a share of the group'sroyalties; the latter claimed they had received hate mail and deaththreats from fans of the UK group. Syco Records counter-sued,suggesting the US group was trying to make money from OneDirection's success and that the boy band was the first to use thename in US interstate commerce. The BBC reported in September 2012that the UK group won the legal dispute over the right to keepusing their band name; the US band changed its name to UnchartedShores while One Direction will keep their name. The name changewas announced in a joint statement that also noted both groups werehappy with the outcome. In December 2011, One Direction embarked ontheir first headlining UK concert tour, the Up All Night Tour. Inearly 2012, they announced Australasian and North American legs ofthe concert tour, with dates from April to July 2012. The tour,resulting in 62 shows, was met with positivity both critically andcommercially. A recording of a concert from the tour, Up All Night:The Live Tour, was released in May 2012. In addition to the DVDtopping the charts in twenty-five countries, as of August 2012, itsglobal sales had exceeded 1 million copies. In June 2012, NickGatfield, chairman and chief executive officer of Sony MusicEntertainment UK, stated how he expects One Direction to representa $100 million business empire over 2013. "What you might not knowabout One Direction is that they already represent a $50 millionbusiness and that's a figure we expect to double next year". On 1August 2012, with sales of 8 million singles, 3 million albums and1 million DVDs, One Direction were presented with discs by Syco andSony Music. On 12 August 2012, One Direction performed "What MakesYou Beautiful" at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony inLondon, which represented the handover to Rio de Janeiro as thehost of the 2016 Summer Olympics. On 6 September 2012, OneDirection performed "One Thing" at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards.They won Best New Artist, Best Pop Video and Most Share-WorthyVideo for "What Makes You Beautiful". Take Me Home and world tour(2012): In May 2012, One Direction began recording their secondstudio album Take Me Home, in Stockholm, Sweden. In April 2012, TheIndependent reported that Cowell challenged music's "mostsuccessful" songwriters to compete for space on One Direction'ssecond studio album, after the global success of their debutalbum.Dee Demirbag, responsible for international artists andrepertoire at music publisher, BMG Rights Management inScandinavia, said: "Breaking a boy band in the US is about as bigas it gets in the music industry, so you can imagine thecompetition to get cuts on the next One Direction album isimmense." The same month, Styles stated, "we're always writing onthe road and in hotels and airports. We don't ever want our musicto sound like a 40-year-old man in an office has written it andgiven it to us to perform."Take Me Home is scheduled for release on12 November 2012, and was preceded by lead single, "Live WhileWe're Young", which was released on 28 September 2012. OneDirection are due to headline New York City's Madison Square Gardenon 3 December 2012. One Direction are also set to embark on theirsecond concert tour, the 2013 World Tour, in February 2013. Theconcert tour thus far consists of 101 shows in the UK, Ireland,North America and Australasia. In the UK and Ireland, ticket salesreached 300,000 within a day of release, which included a six datesell out at London's The O2 Arena. In North America, the groupadded additional shows due to "overwhelming demand". In Australianand New Zealand markets, tickets grossed US$15.7 million, with all190,000 tickets being sold for eighteen shows to be held inAustralia and New Zealand. Musical style: One Direction's debutstudio album, Up All Night (2011), is predominantly a pop musicrecord, containing elements of teen pop, dance pop, pop rock andpower pop, with electropop and rock influences.Digital Spy's RobertCopsey described the album as a "collection of pg pop rock withkiller choruses", while The New York Times considered it "full ofeasy rock-inflected pop, blithe and sometimes clever." JasonLipshutz of Billboard opined that the album demonstrates anoriginality in sound that was "necessary for the revitalization ofthe boy band movement", comparing their "pop harmonies" to those ofboy bands 'N Sync, Backstreet Boys and 98 Degrees. Songs "OneThing" and "What Makes You Beautiful" were particularly noted forthe genres of power pop and pop rock, for their "powerhouse" guitarriffs and "forceful" choruses. Vocally, in live settings, EricaFutterman, writing in Rolling Stone, asserted their acousticperformances as both showing off "Horan's ability to play guitar,as well as One Direction's admirable live vocals. There was no needto worry about a backing track or a bum note, a pleasantrealization at a pop show."Herald Sun's Cameron Adams opined thatOne Direction contain "strong pop voices", Melody Lau of NationalPost wrote similar commentary, "It's easy to get lost in inherentappeal of their perfectly coiffed dos and almost-too-put-togetherpreppy style but somewhere in the midst of all the love-strucksqueals of teenage girls are guys who can actually sing and, to acertain extent, entertain."The Washington Post writer ChrisRichards dissented, "As the five traded couplets, it was tough toimagine a future Justin Timberlake, Ricky Martin or Bobby Brownemerging from the pack. No one voice stood out." Jane Stevenson ofportal site Canoe wrote, "What I didn't really prepare myself forwas that they all can actually sing in concert." Mike Wass ofIdolator felt One Direction's "surprisingly accomplished effort" ofKing of Leon's "Use Somebody" proved that One Direction are "morethan capable" of evolving their sound in the future. Image: NeilMcCormick from The Daily Telegraph published an article on thenature of One Direction's success in North America, noting thatAmericans had left a gap in the market, writing that it took theprominence of Justin Bieber to demonstrate that there was still amarket for "clean cut, wholesome, whiter- than-white, middle classparent friendly pop: cute boys advocating puppy love. It is safesex for dangerous times. And what could be better than one cuteboy, if not five?" One Direction have been described as sparkingthe resurgence in the boy band concept, and as forming part of anew "British Invasion" in the United States. Bill Werde, arepresentative of Billboard magazine commented, "There's a lot ofpossibility here, there's a lot of upside, that level of talentwith those kinds of looks, it's really a perfect storm for amassive, massive successful phenomenon." Sonny Takhar, the chiefexecutive officer of Syco Records, attributes the breakthrough tothe power of social media. "Sometimes you feel the song's the star,but it's not like that here - it's the act," he said. "It's a realmoment. Social media has become the new radio, it's never broken anact globally like this before." Will Bloomfield, the group'smanager, added, "These guys live online, and so do their fans."Their management employs a social media team and the members alltweet themselves, "which helps create the illusion that theycouldn't be any closer to their fans." One Direction's Twitteraccount had amassed 5 million followers as of July 2012, with theaccount gaining followers at an average of 20,000 per day. Eachmember is known for his feature; Horan is "the cute one", Malik is"the quiet and mysterious one", Payne is "the sensible one", Stylesis "the charming one" and Tomlinson is "the funny one". Horancommented on One Direction as a boy band, "People think that a boyband is air-grabs and being dressed in all one colour. We're boysin a band. We're trying to do something different from what peoplewould think is the typical kind of boy band. We're trying to dodifferent kinds of music and we're just trying to be ourselves, notsqueaky clean." Leah Collins, writing for the National Post,remarked that One Direction had succeeded on the latter front, "Forthe most part, that just means the group presents themselves astypical, goofy and uncensored teenage boys - posting jokey YouTubevideos, for instance, or boozing at awards shows." Writing for TheObserver, Kitty Empire opined, "Dance routines are fundamental tothe boy band - or at least, to 90s Take That and late-00s JLS. OneDirection fulfil a great many boy band prerequisites (looks, soppylyrics, tune-grasp, fame-lust) but their lack of routines points tothe subtle digressions afoot here." Jon Caramanica of The New YorkTimes noted, "The story of boy bands is inevitably the story ofdisbandment", although he felt, "Given that the band has built somedissonance into its act, it may take awhile for that to happen toOne Direction." Other ventures: One Direction have released threebooks, published by HarperCollins, the books contains personalsnaps, unseen photographs, as well as written accounts of everymember of One Direction. The first One Direction-licensed book, OneDirection: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), wasreleased on 17 February 2011. The book reached the number one spoton The Sunday Times Best Seller list. Their second book, OneDirection: The Official Annual 2012, was published on 1 September2011. On 15 September 2011, One Direction released their third bookDare to Dream: Life as One Direction. The book was also able tosecure the top spot in The Sunday Times Non Fiction HardbackBestseller list.Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction was publishedin the United States on 22 May 2012, subsequently topping The NewYork Times Best Seller list. In 2011, One Direction released theirfirst calendar for 2012, the One Direction 2012 Calendar. InDecember 2011, amazon.com revealed that One Direction have achievedthe top selling celebrity calendar of all time in the UK. OneDirection became the brand ambassadors for Pokémon Black and Whitesince April 2011. They starred in a series of television ads, aswell as special events performing for and meeting fans. They alsolaunched limited edition Nokia C2-02 and Nokia C3-00 phones, whichcontain exclusive content such as One Direction wallpapers,ringtones, and behind the scenes videos of the band. In April 2012,Hasbro announced an agreement with One Direction to produce a newline of toys and games based on the group. The range will be soldglobally in the autumn of 2012, with the exception of the UK andIreland. Philanthropy: In 2010, when One Direction were contestantson The X Factor, they and their fellow series seven contestantsreleased a cover of David Bowie's "Heroes" in aid of Help forHeroes. The song, said to have been recorded in the week beginning18 October 2010, was released as a charity single in aid of Helpfor Heroes, a charity which supports injured servicemen and women.All sixteen finalists performed the song on 20 November 2010'sresults show. The single entered both the Irish Singles Chart on 25November 2010 and the UK Singles Chart on 28 November 2010 atnumber one. In 2012, One Direction contributed to the fundraisercookbook Dish for a Wish. The proceeds from sales of the bookbenefit the Rays of Sunshine Children's Charity, an organisationthat grants the wishes of sick children in the UK. On 9 May 2012,One Direction visited the ill children of the charity. In April2012, One Direction teamed up with Charitybuzz to help raise moneyin aid for the Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity. VIPtickets to meet the band in person on their North American leg oftheir Up All Night Tour were made available with the proceeds goingto the children's charity. In April 2012, they also aided theCalifornia Earthquake Authority (CEA) through bidding auctions tomeet the band. In July 2012, One Direction teamed up with BritishAirways in a 'text-to-win' competition, which was launched onsocial networking websites, giving eight fans the chance to flywith the band on an one hour flight organised by British Airways.Money raised from the competition went to Flying Start, BritishAirways' global charity partnership with Comic Relief, to helpchildren in the UK and some of the world's poorest countries.Members: Niall Horan: Niall James Horan, born (1993-09-13) 13September 1993 (age 19), is from Mullingar, County Westmeath,Republic of Ireland. Born to mother Maura Gallagher and fatherBobby Horan, he has an older brother named Greg. Their parentsdivorced when he was five. He and his brother lived between each oftheir homes for a few years before eventually deciding to live withtheir father in Mullingar. Horan was a pupil at Coláiste Mhuire, aboys' Christian Brothers school. He was in the school choir,performing seasonally around Christmas. Prior to participating inThe X Factor, he performed around his homeland, including as asupport act for Lloyd Daniels in Dublin. Horan has been playingguitar since his childhood. Horan has also stated that he is a "bigswing" fan, citing favourite artists Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin andMichael Bublé. Horan also cites rock music favourably and is a fanof The Eagles, Bon Jovi and The Script. Zayn Malik: Zain Javadd"Zayn" Malik, born (1993-01-12) 12 January 1993 (age 19) in St.Luke's Hospital, is from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. Born toBritish Pakistani father Yaser and an English mother, Tricia Malik(née Brannan), he has one older sister Doniya, and two youngersisters Waliyha and Safaa. He grew up in East Bowling, and was apupil at Lower Fields Primary School and went to Tong High School,a state comprehensive school. Malik did not fit in at his first twoschools due to his mixed heritage, revealing that when he and hisolder sister moved schools he felt he fitted in better. Aftermoving schools at the age twelve, Malik, states he started takingpride in his appearance. On auditioning for The X Factor, Maliksaid "I was looking for an experience". He cites urban music as hismain musical influence, growing up, he was into R&B and rap.For his X Factor audition, he performed the Mario R&B song,"Let Me Love You". He as well as other members of One Directionfurther notes artists such as Bruno Mars, as a "dreamcollaborator." Malik is addicted to smoking cigarettes; in late2011, he expressed his desire to quit. Malik once wrote on Twitter,"La ila ha ill lalla ho muhammed door rasoolalah", the message isregarded as a common declaration of faith among Muslims meaning:"There is no God but Allah and Muhammad is the prophet of Allah."In May 2012, Malik confirmed he is dating Little Mix member PerrieEdwards. Liam Payne: Liam James Payne, born (1993-08-29) 29 August1993 (age 19), is from Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. Bornthree weeks early to mother Karen and father Geoff, he has twoolder sisters, Ruth and Nicola. Until the age of four, Payne hadregular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of hiskidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain,he had 32 injections in his arm in the morning and evening as achild. As a student, Payne was heavily involved in sports. Paynewas bullied in secondary school and took up boxing lessons at theage of twelve. He was a music technology student at City ofWolverhampton College. Payne had once performed in front of a26,000 crowd at a Wolverhampton Wanderers' football match. Paynefirst auditioned in 2008 to The X Factor's fifth series when he wasfourteen. He made it to the judges' houses, but Cowell thought hewas not ready for the competition and asked him to come back in twoyears. Payne cites Justin Timberlake as one of his biggestinfluences. He also says he draws inspiration from Take That memberGary Barlow when performing. He is currently in a relationship withdancer Danielle Peazer, who has performed with acts such as TheSaturdays and Jessie J. They met on The X Factor in 2010 and havebeen in a relationship ever since. Peazer has received deaththreats and other forms of cyber bullying on social networkingwebsite Twitter, due to her relationship with Payne. Harry Styles:Harry Edward Styles, born (1994-02-01) 1 February 1994 (age 18) isfrom the village of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England. He is aformer pupil at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, a statecomprehensive school. Born to mother Anne Cox and father DesStyles, he has an older sister, Gemma. He was seven when theirparents divorced, his mother later getting remarried. Following thedivorce, Styles, his older sister and mother moved further out intothe Cheshire countryside. At the age of twelve he moved back toHolmes Chapel. Styles was the lead singer for the band White Eskimowith band members lead guitarist Haydn Morris, bass guitarist NickClough and drummer Will Sweeny. They had once entered a Battle ofthe Bands competition, which they won. Prior to participating inThe X Factor, the then sixteen-year old Styles had a part-time jobat the W. Mandeville Bakery in Holmes Chapel. As a child, Stylesloved singing, noting Elvis Presley as one of his influences. Healso cites Presley for his musical beginnings. Styles also citescontemporaries, Foster the People, Coldplay and Kings of Leon amonghis influences. Styles states that The X Factor gave him "a lotmore" confidence as a performer and singer. Styles says that heoften looks to Coldplay front man Chris Martin for inspiration whenperforming on stage. Styles also states that The Beatles had aprofound influence on him growing up, as his father would playtheir music. He briefly dated English television presenter CarolineFlack, which caused widespread media controversy over theirfifteen-year age gap. Louis Tomlinson: Louis William Tomlinson,born Louis Troy Austin,(1991-12-24) 24 December 1991 (age 20), isfrom Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. Born to mother JohannahPoulston and father Troy Austin, his parents split when he wasyoung and he took on his stepfather Mark Tomlinson's name. He hasfive younger half-sisters, and two of them had roles as babies ontelevision series Fat Friends, on which he would go along and serveas an extra. After Fat Friends, he attended an acting school inBarnsley. He had small parts in an ITV1 drama film If I Had You andBBC's Waterloo Road. He was a sixth form student at Hall CrossSchool, a state comprehensive school, and a former pupil of theHayfield School. He revealed that he failed his first year of Alevels at the Hayfield School. He ended up going back to Hall Crossand started A levels over again. As a student at Hall Cross,Tomlinson starred in several musical productions. He had a numberof jobs, including at a Vue cinema and at Doncaster Rovers footballstadium as a waiter in their hospitality suites. Tomlinson revealedthat landing the lead role of Danny Zuko in a high school musicalproduction of Grease motivated him to audition for The X Factor.Tomlinson cites Robbie Williams as his biggest influence and idol.In an interview with Now Magazine, he stated: "I've always lovedRobbie. He's just so cheeky, he can get away with anything. Hisperformances are unbelievable." He also admires recording artist EdSheeran, describing him as "phenomenal." Tomlinson is currently ina relationship with Manchester University politics and sociologystudent, Eleanor Calder.
