One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English–Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik (until his departure in 2015). The group sold over 70 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.
Formed on the British singing competition show The X Factor in 2010, the group were propelled to global success by social media. One Direction's debut single "What Makes You Beautiful" was a commercial and international success, reaching number one on the UK singles chart and being performed by the band at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony. They became the first British act to have their debut album top the charts on the Billboard 200 with Up All Night (2011), and subsequently became the first band to have their first four albums debut at number one following the releases of Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013), and Four (2014). The band's fifth and final album prior to their hiatus was Made in the A.M. (2015).
Considered teen idols, One Direction were often subject to fan hysteria comparable to Beatlemania. 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 of 2014 and the highest–grossing tour by a vocal group in history, grossing $290 million. They have supported various charities, raising millions for causes like cancer research and autism, and spreading awareness of global issues such as poverty and climate change.
Worth over $1 billion, the band won nearly 200 awards, including seven Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, six Billboard Music Awards, and seven American Music Awards. As the world's best-selling artist of 2013, the group were named the Global Recording Artist of the Year by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. In 2014, Billboard named the band the Artist of the Year. Forbes ranked them as the fourth highest-earning celebrities in the world in 2015 and subsequently in second in 2016. The band went on an indefinite hiatus in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue solo projects.
Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson auditioned as solo candidates for the 2010 series of the British 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 on 23 July 2010, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. The American singer Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, and long-time judge Simon Cowell 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". In 2022, The X Factor released previously unseen footage showing that Scherzinger did play a significant role in forming the band. The video revealed Horan being chosen as the band's first member, followed by Styles, Tomlinson, Payne, and Malik. Styles came up with the band's name, which has since been commonly abbreviated to 1D. For their qualifying song at the 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, becoming a fan favourite on the show with a large online following.
One Direction were the last contestants eliminated in the competition behind Matt Cardle and Rebecca Ferguson. Immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor 2010, 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. 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.
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, One Direction 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 the band, stating that he "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 and the first debut album by a British band to reach number one on US charts. In December 2011, they embarked on their first headlining UK concert tour, the Up All Night Tour, with tickets selling out in 12 minutes. Critics praised the group's musical performances and popularity whilst on tour, and a recording of a concert from the tour, Up All Night: The Live Tour, was released in May 2012. The DVD topped the charts in 25 countries, selling more than 1 million copies by August 2012.
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 gathered 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 in more than a decade. By June 2016, it would sell 4.8 million copies in the US, and over 7 million copies 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, inducted into the Guinness World Records as a result. After the album's international release, it topped the charts in 16 countries. Up All Night had sold over 3 million copies worldwide by August 2012. It was the third best-selling album in the world that year, selling 4.5 million copies.
One Direction starred in an episode of American sitcom iCarly in April 2012. One Direction's first book to be licensed in America, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, was published in the US in May 2012 and topped The New York Times Best Seller list. In June 2012, Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive officer of Sony Music Entertainment UK, said that he expected One Direction to represent a $100 million business empire by 2013. In August 2012, the group's record sales exceeded 8 million singles, 3 million albums, and 1 million DVDs. They performed "What Makes You Beautiful" at the 2012 Summer Olympics closing ceremony in London the same month. On 6 September 2012, One Direction won the most awards at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards, receiving all three awards for which they were nominated, including Best New Artist.