One Direction Facts (Not a Story.xD)

41-80

41. One Direction are the brand ambassadors for the computer game Pokémon Black and White and have appeared on TV adverts and performed at events.

42. The band’s Twitter ID’s are @Harry_Styles, @NiallOfficial, @zaynmalik, @Real_Liam_Payne and Louis_Tomlinson.

43. Harry has the most followers on Twitter with 1,645,520 (as of 26th January 2012).

44. It was guest judge, former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who suggested that Harry, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Louis should be put together as a group at X Factor bootcamp.

45. One Direction finished third on The X Factor behind winner Matt Cardle and runner-up Rebecca Ferguson.

46. Harry came up with the band name One Direction.

47. After coming third on The X Factor, One Direction were snapped up by Simon Cowell’s record label Syco.

48. 1D’s debut single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ entered the UK Singles Chart at number one selling a whopping 153,965 copies in its first week. It also smashed the pre-order sales record at One Direction’s label Sony Music.

49. One Direction’s 2011/2012 UK tour sold out in just 12 minutes when tickets went on sale in September.

50. Before auditioning for The X Factor, Harry was the frontman of the band White Eskimo which featured his school friends Haydn Morris, Nick Clough and Will Sweeney.

51. The ‘One Direction 2012 Calendar’ is the best selling calendar of all time on Amazon.co.uk ahead of Cheryl Cole and JLS’s official 2011 calendars.

52. Liam is an avid fan of boxing.

53. Niall says he’s only read one book – the American classic ‘To Kill A Mockingbird’.

54. One Direction’s debut album ‘Up All Night’ was the 16th biggest selling album of 2011 in the UK, shifting 468,000 copies.

55. 1D’s second single ‘Gotta Be You’ was released on 13th November 2011 and reached number three on the UK chart.

56. Despite not hitting the top spot, ‘Up All Night’ was the highest selling number two album of 2011 with 138,163 copies sold in the first week alone.

57. ‘Up All Night’ also charted in the top ten in Ireland, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, New Zealand and Australia.

58. 1D’s debut tour of North America will see the boys support US band Big Time Rush. They’ll play ten shows kicking off at Chicago Rosemont Theatre on 24th February 2012.

59. ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ has been nominated in the Best British Single category at the 2012 Brit Awards. They’ll find out if they’ve won on 21st February.

60. 1D took part in The X Factor Live Tour from February to April 2011.

61. Had One Direction won The X Factor they would have released a cover of the 1984 synthpop anthem ‘Forever Young’ by German group Alphaville. 1D’s version leaked onto the internet soon after The X Factor.

62. ‘Up All Night’ was recorded in three separate places – London, Los Angeles and Sweden.

63. Ed Sheeran (‘Moments’) and American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson (‘Tell Me A Lie’) both penned tracks for ‘Up All Night’.

64. Niall, Liam, Louis, Zayn and Harry co-wrote four songs on the record – ‘Taken’, ‘Everything About You’, ‘Same Mistakes’ and ‘Save You Tonight’.

65. As of 24th January 2012, ‘Up All Night’ has sold 499,850 copies in the UK.

66. Following their North American tour with Big Time Rush, ‘Up All Night’ will finally be released in the US and Canada on 20th March 2012 on Columbia Records.

67. Along with fellow former contestants JLS, 1D guested on the 2011 X Factor finalists single ‘Wishing On A Star’ in November 2011. It charted at number one with first week sales of 98,932.

68. 1D’s third single ‘One Thing’ was released digitally on 6th January 2012 and reached number 28 on the chart. A CD version will be release on 13th February.

69. Zayn’s name is actually spelt with an ‘i’ (Zain). He reckons ‘Zayn’ is more original and adopted it as his stage name.

70. Niall has a very bizarre good luck mascot – a pair of white socks. Erm, ok then!  

71. Liam once confessed to owning a pair of pink hair straighteners. Nice!

72. The ‘Gotta Be You’ video was filmed in New York and on the banks of Lake Placid.

73. Harry’s favourite song of all time is ‘Free Falling’ by John Mayer.

74. Zayn, Louis and Harry all support Manchester United. Liam is a West Bromich Albion fan while Niall follows Derby County.

75. Niall is an accomplished guitar player while Harry plays the kazoo!

76. Simon Cowell believes 1D have what it takes to become one of the biggest boy bands on the planet. He told the Daily Star: "I think they are the new Take That."

77. The ‘One Thing’ music video was shot at various locations in London on 28th November 2011 and premiered on YouTube 13th January 2012.

78. To date ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, ‘Gotta Be You’ and ‘One Thing’ have amassed over 70million views altogether on YouTube. Impressive!

79. During the X Factor auditions all the 1D boys were students. Niall was at Colaiste Mhuire secondary school in Millingar, Zayn studied at Tong High School in Bradford, Liam was at the City of Wolverhampton College, Harry was a pupil at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School and Louis was a sixth former at Hall Cross School in Doncaster.

80. Zayn dated fellow X Factor star Rebecca Ferguson for four months but the relationship ended when they “drifted apart”. Rebecca is six years older than Zayn.