ONE DIRECTION FACTS:
Members: Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson
Genre: Pop, Boy Band
Formed: United Kingdom
Albums: Up All Night (2011)
Awards: Best British Single (Brit Awards) for "What Makes You Beautiful"; Best Group, Best Breakthrough, Best Video (4Music Awards)
Hits: "What Makes You Beautiful", "Gotta Be You"
Other: Competed on the seventh season of the UK X-Factor.
The members of One Direction were initially contestants on the UK version of "X Factor," and the show's creator Simon Cowell was so impressed by their performances that he decided to mentor them throughout the show's season. The boys, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne, are from both the United Kingdom and Ireland and made it all the way to the final round and eventually finished third behind Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle. However, the group had made such an impression on Simon Cowell that he signed them to his Syco label and they went on tour with the "X-Factor" contestants.
One Direction was already a huge hit in the UK when they released their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful." The song was the fastest-selling track of the year, and also broke Sony Music's record for the most pre-sales in the organization's history. The song also received a Brit Award for "Best British Single" and soared to No.1 on the UK pop charts. This instant success has resulted in a slew of promotional deals that have dramatically improved their profile.
The band's first tour of the United Kingdom sold out within minutes, and the group's first album "Up All Night" would go on to top album charts in many European countries. By the time One Direction came to the United States to tour with Big Time Rush, they had the first album by a British band debut to top the Billboard 200. "Up All Night" sold 176,000 copies during its first week, a remarkable achievement in the age of instant downloading and online production.
Hot off the success of their groundbreaking first album, One Direction is gearing up for their first nationwide U.S. tour that will hit the arena circuit starting in June. They will then launch a world tour that will begin with an already sold-out show at Madison Square Garden in December 2012.