Una Banda, Un Sueño, One Direction

One Direction

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One Direction

One Direction performing on their Take Me Home Tour, February 2013. From left to right: Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson.

Background information

Origin London, England

Genres Pop, Hip Hop, R&B

Years active 2010–present

Labels

Syco Columbia

Associated acts

The X Factor finalists 2010

Website onedirectionmusic.com

Members

Niall Horan Zayn Malik Liam Payne Harry Styles Louis Tomlinson

One Direction (commonly initialised as 1D) are an English-Irish pop boy band based in London, consisting of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. They signed with Simon Cowell's record label Syco Records after being formed and finishing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Propelled to international success by the power of social media, One Direction's three albums, Up All Night, Take Me Home and Midnight Memories, (released in 2011, 2012 and 2013 respectively), broke several records, topped the charts of most major markets, and generated hit singles, which include "What Makes You Beautiful", "Live While We're Young" and "Story of My Life".

Their achievements include four Brit Awards and four MTV Video Music Awards among many others. According to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012's "Top New Artist" by Billboard.[1] According to the Sunday Times Rich List, by April 2013 they had an estimated personal combined wealth of £25 million ($41.2m) making them the second wealthiest musicians in the UK under 30 years of age.[2] After the release of Midnight Memories, One Direction became the first band in US Billboard 200 history to have their first three albums debut at number one.[3] Additionally, the album was a global success, debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart and becoming the fastest and biggest selling album of 2013 in the UK.

Contents [hide]

1 History

1.1 2010–11: The X Factor

1.2 2011–12: Up All Night

1.3 2012–13: Take Me Home

1.4 2013–present: Midnight Memories and This Is Us

2 Musical style

3 Philanthropy

4 Image

5 Members

6 Discography

7 Concert tours

8 Awards and nominations

9 See also

10 Publications

11 References

12 External links

History

2010–11: The X Factor

One Direction on The X Factor Live tour in 2011

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.[4] They failed to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges' houses" but were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition,[5] thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge,[4][6][7] 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".[8] Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practise.[9][10] Styles came up with the name One Direction.[9] For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn".[11] Cowell later commented that their performance convinced him that they "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well."[12] Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were his last act in the competition.[13] The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.[12]

One Direction finished in third place 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.[14] Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records record contract.[15][16] Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a record producer.[17] A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was published by HarperCollins in February 2011,[18] subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list.[19] The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour.[20] During the tour the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK.[21] After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album.[17] 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.[22][23]

2011–12: Up All Night

Released in September 2011, One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, after becoming the most pre-ordered Sony Music Entertainment single in history.[24][25] Subsequent singles, "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing", peaked in the UK Singles Chart top ten.[26][27] In November 2011, they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America.[28] 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."[29] "What Makes You Beautiful" was released in the United States in February 2012,[30] where it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at number 28, becoming the highest debut for a British act since 1998.[31] It has sold over 4 million copies in the US.[32] Upon arrival in the US in February 2012, One Direction embarked on a radio promotion spree, as well as their first North American concert tour as an opening act for Big Time Rush.[33][34] They made their first US television appearance on The Today Show, at the Rockefeller Center; an estimated 15,000 fans descended on the plaza.[35] Critically commended for its appeal to the teenage audience,[36][37][38] One Direction's first studio album, Up All Night, was released globally in early 2012. It became the UK's fastest-selling debut album of 2011,[39] and topped the charts in sixteen countries.[40] The album bowed atop the US Billboard 200 chart, making One Direction the first British group in US chart history to enter at number one with their debut album.[41] They were inducted into the Guinness World Records as a result.[42] 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.[43][44]

One Direction performing on their Up All Night Tour, April 2012

In April 2012, an American band that went by the same name filed a trademark infringement lawsuit.[45] 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.[45] 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$1million.[45] 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.[45] 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.[46] The BBC reported in September 2012 that the UK group won the legal dispute over the right to keep using their band name; the US band changed its name to Uncharted Shores.[46] The change of name was announced in a joint statement that also noted both groups were happy with the outcome.[46]

In December 2011, One Direction embarked on their first headlining UK concert tour, the Up All Night Tour.[47] In early 2012, they announced Australasian and North American legs of the concert tour, with dates from April to July 2012.[48][49] The tour, comprising 62 shows, was met with positivity both critically and commercially.[50][51][52][53][54][55][56] A recording of a concert from the tour, Up All Night: The Live Tour, was released in May 2012.[57] In addition to the DVD topping the charts in twenty-five countries, its global sales had exceeded 1 million copies by August 2012.[44][58] One Direction's first book to be licensed in America, Dare to Dream: Life as One Direction, published in the United States in May 2012, topped The New York Times Best Seller list.[59] 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.[60] Gatfield was quoted as saying, "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".[60] 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"

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