One Direction
One Direction in April 2012. From left to right: Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson.
Background information
Origin	London, England
Genres	Dance-pop, pop rock, power pop, teen pop
Years active	2010–present
Labels	Syco, Columbia
Associated acts	The X Factor finalists 2010
Website	onedirectionmusic.com
Members
Niall Horan Zayn Malik Liam Payne Harry Styles Louis Tomlinson

One Direction are an English-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 singing competition The X Factor in 2010. Propelled to international success by the power of social media, their two albums Up All Night (2011) and Take Me Home (2012), 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".
Often described as sparking the resurgence in the boy band concept, and of forming part of a new "British Invasion" in the United States, the group have sold over 14 million singles and 8 million albums, according to the band's management company, Modest! Management.^[1] Their achievements include two BRIT Awards and three MTV Video Music Awards. According to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012. They were proclaimed 2012's "Top New Artist" by Billboard,^[2] while The Huffington Post named 2012 "The Year of One Direction".^[3]