On July 23, 2010, a band consisting of 5 boys — Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, and Harry Styles — was formed on the X Factor UK. They called themselves “One Direction”, and despite finishing in third place on the show, they secured a record deal with Simon Cowell’s label and the rest is history.
After Liam Payne’s tragic passing in October, I was immediately pushed into nostalgia mode. As someone who used to be (and still kind of is) a huge Directioner, I never stopped listening to the band’s music. For years, they were my number one Spotify Wrapped artist and I was consistently in their top 0.01% of listeners, and in 2020, the even told me 1D was my top artist for the decade. I’ve loved them since the release of their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful”, and I know there are people in the same boat as me, and even people who started loving them earlier — during the X Factor days.
As I went through listening to every album on repeat, watching the video diaries, and reminiscing on old inside jokes with friends, I realized that the group wasonly together for five years, and they released 4 albums. In retrospect that’s not a long time at all. The boys worked so hard and did so much that it feels so much longer, and to add to that point, it’s much easier to see that they were being overworked in those 5 years now that we’re older.
After their debut single blew up, the boys were everywhere. They released their first album Up All Night, and blew up even more. They were performing on radio stations, doing pop-ups at local parks in the UK, and they even opened for Big Time Rush. Simon Cowell had them working harder than ever, and it was paying off. The album was the first album by a British band to go number one on the Billboard 200, and every single they released from the album did amazing numbers. Their faces were quite literally in every store, on every news channel, and on every social media app. No boy band had seen these levels of worldwide fame since The Beatles, and that’s exactly who the boys were being compared to.
They went on to release 4 more albums — one every year, also accompanied with a tour, television appearances, book releases, and even a movie. They were breaking so many records, charting like crazy, and their fanbase was growing by the second. It really wasn’t surprising; they were down-to-earth. It also didn’t hurt that they were attractive and really, genuinely talented. They have insane voices as well as top tier songwriting skills. Their popularity was very well deserved, but overshadowed by the fact that they were, well…. a boy band.
Like most things, when something has a female-centric fanbase, it gets made fun of and discounted a lot. Society thinks women only like groups because the members are “hot”, or the music is vapid and meaningless. They see women screaming at concerts or lining up outside venues and immediately feel as if whatever they’re into has no value whatsoever. Boy bands are rarely regarded as highly as solo artists or other musicians. People see the choreographed dance moves, matching outfits, and cheesy love songs and think that’s all their capable of. In One Direction’s case, they didn’t even dance — and once they began writing their own songs, you could tell they didn’t want to be boxed into that bubblegum pop sound.
And while we’re on the topic of being underappreciated, 1D has not a single Grammy to their name. They were never even nominated. And yes, the Grammy’s aren’t always an indicator of hard work and talent — we can see that in the way artists are snubbed year after year. They’ve gotten every other major music award, but not even a nod at the Grammy’s. No Best New Artist, No Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, or Best Pop Vocal Album. Looking at how well received their work was among the general public, and how many other artists were fans of them, it’s something that’s never sat right with me. Especially when their music became more grown up. The albums Four and Made in the A.M. are arguably some of their best work, and I’d even throw Midnight Memories in there, as well. You can really tell when the boys had more control over their sound versus the record label and you can also really see the growth they’ve had with their voices, as well.
Music aside, I mentioned earlier, the boys were relatable and came from normal backgrounds. They were just 5 random boys working minimum wage jobs and attending school. It’s so easy to see in how they were goofing off together during the X-Factor, and how they still had fun and were being silly all the way until the band split. It’s so clear to see in interviews, the video diaries, fan interactions, and the way they acted during concerts that they were still young and carefree at heart, which is really nice to see, considering how young they were when they entered the industry and how hard they were pushed. There’s so many inside jokes in the fandom and lots of viral videos. It’s nice to see that even though they were working day in and day out, they still presented themselves with a smile on their faces.
It’s easy to see that the boys enjoyed finally being able to rest; once they went on their hiatus after Zayn left in 2015 (I still remember exacty where I was when they dropped the announcement). None of them were in a hurry to release solo music or tour, and they all decided to lay low, finally revelling in the time off they were getting.
All in all, One Direction just had something that hadn’t been seen or achieved by other boy bands before them, and it still has yet to be replicated. I’d say their only real rival is BTS. Groups like BIg Time Rush, 5 Seconds of Summer, The Vamps, and The Wanted were super popular, but they never reached 1D levels of success. They weren’t household names, they weren’t recognizable, they didn’t have their faces plastered on every form of merchandise possible (They were 1D singing toothbrushes, Pillow Pets, purses, dolls, if it could be branded, trust that One Direction had merch for it). They even had an animated cartoon series made by a fan called The Adventurous Adventures of One Direction. Their rise to stardom and their impact is unmatched. People still use “Zayn” as a reference to leaving somewhere. When someone announces a hiatus they ask them not to “pull a 1D” because One Direction announced a hiatus but never actually returned.
I think it’s not a reach to say when it comes to western boy bands, One Direction is still number one, even after 10 years of disbandment. They’ve been apart longer than they were together, but you can’t even tell. They took key elements from The Beatles, The Backstreet Boys, N*Sync, and other groups and then added in their own flair to create something new. Whatever recipe Simon Cowell was cooking up proved to be successful, and you can see that in the way the boys’ solo music is widely adored. They kept their old fans and gained new ones. Their solo music in turn got people listening to 1D for the first time, continuing their reign.
One Direction has left us with a slew of fun memories (Mr. X, 1D Day, Kevin the Pigeon, Vas Happenin’… I could go on and on), and an amazingly fresh discography. Even back when the songs were new they never got old. Through every hardship, the group never lost its relevancy — Zayn leaving, the “hiatus”, and Liam’s passing were all very significant moments, but each one brought the boys and the fans closer. They also proved how strong and resilient everyone is. All the hard work they put it in during the early days set them up for a long-lasting legacy. I can’t wait to see when and if they do anything for future anniversaries or even some reunion performances or a tour.
This band has introduced me to some of my closest friends, led me to discover even more new music, and cheered me up on my worst days. Not only do me and so many other fans around the world have a lot to thank them for, the music industry does too.
