Zain Javadd "Zayn" Malik (born 12 January 1993)[1] is an English singer and songwriter, known as a previous member of the boy band One Direction. In 2010, Malik auditioned as a solo artist for the British television series The X Factor. After being eliminated as a solo performer, Malik was brought back into the competition, along with four other contestants, to form the group that would later become known as One Direction. During his time in One Direction, Malik, along with his bandmates, had released four commercially successful albums, performed on a worldwide tour, and won several awards. In March 2015, Malik's representative announced his departure from the band.
Contents
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1 Early life
2 Career
2.1 2010-15: The X Factor and One Direction
2.2 Solo career
3 Artistry and image
4 Personal life
5 Discography
6 Filmography
7 References
Early life
Zain Javadd "Zayn" Malik,[2] born 12 January 1993 (age 22),[3] is from Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.[4] His father, Yaser Malik, is British Pakistani, and his mother, Tricia (née Brannan) Malik, is a white English woman of Irish and English descent.[5] He has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa.[6][7] Malik grew up in East Bowling, located south of the Bradford city centre. He attended Lower Fields Primary School and Tong High School in Bradford.[8] As a teenager he took performing arts courses and appeared in school productions. Malik did not fit in at his first two schools due to his mixed heritage. Malik has stated that he started taking pride in his appearance after moving schools at the age of twelve.[9]
Career
2010-15: The X Factor and One Direction
Main article: One Direction
Malik with One Direction on The X Factor Live tour in 2011.
In 2010, 17-year-old Malik auditioned in Manchester for the seventh series of reality-television competition The X Factor. He sang "Let Me Love You" by Marioas his audition song,[10] and was accepted into the next round. Upon auditioning for The X Factor, Malik stated: "I was looking for an experience".[11] He was eliminated before the final round of the competition,[12] but judges Nicole Scherzinger and Simon Cowell grouped him with fellow competitors Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson to form a new act for the remainder of the show, called One Direction.[13] For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn".[14] Simon Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well."[15] Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last act in the competition.[16] The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.[15]
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.[17] Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records record contract.[18][19] Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a record producer.[20] A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was published by HarperCollins in February 2011,[21] subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list.[22] The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour.[23] During the tour the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK.[24] After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album.[20] 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.[25][26] Styles came up with band name One Direction, which he thought would sound good when The X Factor announcer Peter Dickson read their name out on the live shows.[27]
