One Direction. Who are they? One Direction is a British-Irish pop boy band based in London. Consisting of members 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 British television singin competition The X-Factor in 2010. Probelled to international succes by the power of social media, their two albums 'Up All Night' and 'Take Me Home', released in 2011 and 2012 respectively, broke several records, topped the charts of most major markets, and generated hit singles, including 'What Makes You Beautiful' and 'Live While We're Young'. Niall James Horan, born on 13 September 1993 in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. He has an older brother named Greg. Their parents divorced when he was five. Niall Horan has been playing guitar since his childhood. He has also stated that he is a 'big swing' fan, citing favourite artists, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Michael Bublé. He is also a fan of The Eagles, Bon Jovi and The Script. Zayn Javadd Malik, born on 12 January 1993 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. He has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa. He cites Urban Music as his main musical influence, growing up, he was into R&B and rap. Zayn is addicted to smoking cigarettes; in late 2011, he expressed his desire to quit. Zayn Malik is an Muslim. Liam James Payne, born on 29 August 1993 in Wolverhampton, West Midlands, England. He has two older sisters, Ruth and Nicola. Until the age of four, Liam had regular tests done in hospital as doctors noticed one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfunctional. To help cope with the pain, he had 32 injections in his arm in the morning and evening as a child. Liam was bullied in secondary school and took up boxing lessons at the age of twelve. Liam cites Justin Timberlake as one of his biggest influences. Harry Edward Styles, born on 1 February 1994 in the village of Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England. He has an older sister Gemma. His parents divorced when he was seven. Harry was the lead singer for the band White Eskimo. They had once entered a Battle Of The Bands competition, which they won. As a child, Harry loved singing, noting Elvis Presley as one of his influences. He also cites Elvis Presley for his musical beginnings. Harry also cites contemporaries, Foster The People, Coldplay and Kings Of Leon among his influences. Louis William Tomlinson, born on 24 December 1991 in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. He has five younger half-sisters. Louis revealed that landing the lead role of Danny Zuko in the Hall Cross musical production of Grease motivated him to audition for The X-Factor. Louis cites Robbie Williams as his biggest influence and idol. He also admires recording artist Ed Sheeran, describing him as 'Phenomenal'. One Direction have been recipients of 2 BRIT Awards, winning their first with 'What Makes You Beautiful' for Best British Single at the 2012 BRIT Awards, a NME Award, two Kids Choice Awards, and three MTV Video Music Awards, among other awards. They won all three awards they were nominated for at the 2012 Teen Choice Awards. Fans of One Direction call them self Directioner. I'm also a Directioner. I love them.
