Remembering One Direction 

You’re insecure, don’t know what for. 

Hm Hm-Hm Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm-Hm 

Yeah, that song really tends to get stuck in our heads (or at least in mine). I am sure that many of you know this song and have heard of the band that performed it, One Direction. You can love ‘em or hate ‘em but you can’t deny how they managed to get stuck deep in your brain. But guess what? We are going to talk about them right now!

But fellow students of Lotus, this is just the beginning—the beginning of articles featuring famous artists that everyone knows and shall appreciate. Without further ado, let’s start heading in the direction of this article.  

Wait, whose One Direction again?

Do not worry if you forgot about One Direction or don’t know about them, I’ve got you covered! According to Britannica, One Direction is a “British-Irish male vocal group whose stylish good looks and bright pop-rock sound captivated young fans around the world in the early 2010s.” Their members consist of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson.   

Some of their Albums and Songs

Here are some of their released albums: 

• Up All Night (2011)
• Take Me Home (2012)
• Midnight Memories (2013)
• Four (2014)
• Made in the A.M. (2015)

It’s almost like they purposely made 5 albums for each member of the band!

(From left to right: Up All Night, Made in the A.M., Four, Columbia Records)

Here are some of their performed songs 

• Change Your Ticket 
• Once in a Lifetime
• I Want to Write You a Song
• Little White Lies 
• What Makes You Beautiful (You all know this one lol)

A Brief  History 

One Direction was formed in 2010 on a television show by name of The X Factor. It was a talent contest show, similar to the genre of America’s Got Talent. Each member of the band was around 16 to 18 at the time and auditioned as a soloist before being suggested early in the season to group together to perform. They took the name One Direction and gained some attention on the show. However,  “One Direction ultimately fell short of winning on The X Factor,” and “the show’s mastermind, Simon Cowell, offered the act a recording contract soon after the season ended,” (Britannica).

“The end of X Factor was just the beginning for the guys, with their efforts at building a sustainable fanbase quickly being validated by their popularity spreading like wildfire” was what Billboard had to say. Their debut album released in 2011 became the fast-selling album in the U.K that year. When it arrived in the U.S. here in March of 2012 it debuted at #1 on Billboard 200 and sold over 170,000 copies in the first week. 

Now the main era of One Direction was from 2012 through 2014. Billboard said, “their world tours were getting bigger, rising to stadium levels, giving more fans an opportunity to see them live. There was endless content in the form of documentaries, books, albums, award show performances, perfume launches, photoshoots, and more.” Fans were going out all crazy, not only buying albums and CDs but also any type of merchandise that had the first nature number and the fourth letter of the alphabet slapped on. 

The fandom was huge and couldn’t stop talking about One Direction. This is also probably the time when hate and despise began to grow for the band. Since they were everywhere people began to dislike how they were brought up and heard everywhere and every time. Not to mention, the fandom also made their voices heard via the internet on Facebook and Twitter. Honestly, most of us probably didn’t see all the action on the internet as many of us probably didn’t have complete access to it. Yet, I am willing to bet that in these years, you would see One Direction-related videos on Youtube’s trending page.  

But it wasn’t just fame that was becoming successful. They were also succeeding music-wise. They began to evolve musically as they began to contribute more towards the songwriting and production of their songs. Their album, Four, demonstrated that they were taking more control of their sound and gaining more respect as musicians. “They even made history by becoming the first group to have their first four albums debut at number one,” (Billboard).

Everything was going amazing for this band. They were crazy popular and probably made a killing. But, if they were doing so well and successful, why haven’t we heard a new album or single from them? What could’ve gone wrong?

One Direction went the OTHER Direction

One day on March 25 of 2015, One Direction’s Zayn Malik announced that he was departing from the group in a Facebook post. Fans were DEVASTATED. Not only was Zayn one of the more popular members of the band, but he was also a piece of One Direction that he was going to take with him. This was something that got the grand majority of people’s attention. Fans couldn’t choose how to feel with their stirred emotions. People began debating whether this was for the best or the worst. Theories were raised speculating what caused the departure and if there were deeper issues going on behind the curtains.

In an attempt to assure fans that they were staying together, the 4 remaining members released the song, Drag Me Down, in July 2015. This was also meant to give hope to the fans. But merely weeks later, the band announced an “18-month hiatus.” Yeah right, almost 8 years later, and that 1 ½ hiatus is still going. While they didn’t actually announce the break up of the band it was clear that they did break up. There has been little to no One Direction content after their said hiatus. Ever since they just went their own ways. Never truly speaking of what happened, why it happened like that. You thought your breakup was tough? Yeah, 1D’s break-up set a sea of fans to cry and thousands of potential dollars to be nothing more than a dream. 

Now, each member is doing music on their own and by far it seems that Harry Styles has been the most successful out of all of them. The others are still doing well with their own songs and records but Harry is definitely the one getting his name out there.

What do Lotus Students think of 1D?

Enough of One Direction already, what do YOU, Lotus students think of One Direction? We went around quickly asking what students thought about One Direction or their songs. And believe it or not, we were able to get ahold of some answers from everyday Lotus students just like you!

“One Direction?! I thought no one thought about them anymore! I love them, I listened to all their albums… My favorite song is Story of my Life”  – Cheerful high school student.

“One Direction? Aren’t those the guys who made that What Makes You Beautiful song?” – Careless high school student. 

“What the hell is a One Direction?” – Confused middle school student.

“Nah, I don’t like One Direction. You like One Direction? I hate their songs” – Tough-looking high school student. 

“I’ve actually only really heard What Makes You Beautiful, not the other ones” – Upbeat middle school student 

“What do you mean One Direction? There are other directions to go in these hallways!” – Ignorant high school student. 

“I mean I don’t love them but I-I like their songs. Mainly just What Makes You Beautiful” – Laid back high school student.

“Gosh I miss Zayn” – Sad-looking high school student.

There was also a poll conducted to determine which band member of the group was the most popular out of all of them. Here were the results, 

Looks like the majority of the votes either don’t know who to choose or they don’t like One Direction. Aside from that, Zayn takes the spot of the most popular/favorite band member followed by Harry Styles. 

So what did you all think? Did I manage to take you on a trip down memory lane? Or did I leave you more confused than before? While One Direction wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea, everyone should still recognize the success and greatness that they brought. How they were able to bring us at least one song that can forever get stuck in our heads. And while they’re gone for now, they aren’t completely gone as long as we remember them. And just like how Liam Payne once said, “It’s not goodbye, it’s just, ‘See you later.”  Until they do come back, let’s remember them to the fullest. Here is a tribute to them.