Liam Payne announces DEBUT album ‘LP1’ and release date

One Direction formed on The X Factor in 2010. Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik auditioned as individual contestants and were put together as a group by Simon Cowell and guest judge Nicole Scherzinger.

Despite racking up an army of fans during their time on the show, One Direction didn't win The X Factor. Instead they finished in third place behind Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.

After landing a record deal following their appearance on The X Factor, One Direction released their first ever single 'What Makes You Beautiful' in September 2011. The single, which hit the Number 1 spot in the UK charts, served as the lead single from their debut album 'Up All Night'.

The 1D boys recorded their debut album in the UK, America and Sweden, releasing 'Up All Night' in November 2011 in the UK and Ireland. The album featured lead single 'What Makes You Beautiful', as well as future singles, 'Gotta Be You' and 'One Thing'.

After a successful year in the music industry, One Direction returned to the show that made them famous, to perform their single 'Gotta Be You'.

Following the success of their debut album, One Direction kicked off their The Up All Night Tour in Decmeber 2011, going on to play 54 dates across the UK, Ireland, Oceania and North America. The tour was an instant success, with tickets for all dates selling out within a matter of minutes of going on sale. The tour was later turned into a DVD, titled Up All Night: The Live Tour.

One Direction didn't wait long before they released their second studio album! Titled 'Take Me Home', the boys dropped the album in November 2012, with it going on to top the charts in 35 countries! 'Take Me Home' featured singles such as 'Live While We're Young', 'Kiss You' and 'Little Things'.

2012 was a great year for One Direction! The band picked up their first ever BRIT Award in the British Single category, for their debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful'. The band beat the likes of Adele, Ed Sheeran, JLS and Olly Murs to pick up the gong, which became the first of seven for the band over the years.

As if dominating the charts wasn't enough, the One Direction boys teamed up with Hasbro in 2012 to launch their very own range of plastic dolls.

After the worldwide success of their debut tour, One Direction went on their Take Me Home tour in 2013, playing at sold-out shows in countries like England, China, Australia and America.

Whilst touring the world with the Take Me Home tour in 2013, One Direction released a 3D-documentary film about the time on their road, titled One Direction: This Is Us. The film, which showed clips of the boys on stage and behind the scenes, grossed $68 million worldwide.

Just weeks after finishing their massive Take Me Home tour, One Direction dropped their third studio album, titled 'Midnight Memories'. The album flew straight to Number 1 in both the UK and the US, becoing the fastest selling album of 2013, despite being released just a few weeks before 2014.The record featured the singles, 'Best Song Ever', 'Story of My Life', 'Midnight Memories', and 'You & I'.

The One Direction boys did their bit for charity in 2013, mashing-up a medley of Blondie's 'One Way or Another' and The Undertones' 'Teenage Kicks'.The track titled 'One Way Or Another (Teenage Kicks)' was released as the official Red Nose Day single in 2013, with then Prime Minister David Cameron even making a cameo appearance in the music video.

In 2013, One Direction become the first boy band to be created into waxworks for Madame Tussauds London since The Beatles' figures in 1964.The waxworks were one of the museums most popular installments of the last decade, and we can see why!

Following on from their mammoth 2013 tour, the 1D boys went back out on the road in 2014, this time with their Where We Are Tour. Playing at sold-out dates across the world, the tour ran between April and October, with the boys performing at 69 shows in total. The tour was the band's biggest to date, with over 3,439,560 million fans turning up to see their idols perform.

Released in November 2014, One Direction released their final album as a five-piece, titled 'Four'. The album, which featured hits like 'Steal My Girl' and 'Stockholm Syndrome', debuted at Number 1 in a massive 18 countries!

In February 2015, Harry, Zayn, Liam, Louis and Niall kicked off their fourth tour, titled On The Road Again. The tour, which turned out to be their last as a band, grossed $208 million from 80 shows.

Zayn Malik broke the hearts of many One Direction fans in March 2015, announcing he was leaving the popular group.One Direction said in a statement at the time, "After five incredible years Zayn Malik has decided to leave On Direction. Niall, Harry, Liam and Louis will continue as a four-piece and look forward to the forthcoming concerts of their world tour and recording their fifth album, due to be released later this year."

Harry, Louis, Niall and Liam continued One Direction as a four-piece, finishing their On The Road Again tour in October 2015.

The One Direction boys dropped their first album as a four-piece in November 2015, titled 'Made In The A.M.' The album, which turned out to be the band's last, featured singles like 'Drag Me Down', 'Perfect' and 'History', and went on to be the sixth best-selling album of 2015.

Much to the heartbreak of fans across the world, One Direction announced they would be taking an extended hiatus, which would start in 2016.

After confirming they were set to take a break, Harry, Louis, Liam and Niall performed at The X Factor final in December 2015, leaving fans in tears as they performed 'History'. Simon Cowell thanked the band for their hard work over the years, expressing his admiration for the group.

Following their final televised performance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on 31st December 2015, the One Direction boys went their separate ways, all going on to release solo music.

In January 2016, Louis announced the birth of his son Freddie Reign Tomlinson with his ex-girlfriend Brianne Jungwirth. The singer uploaded this cute photo to his Instagram page and wrote on Twitter, 'I'm pleased to say my baby son was born yesterday :) He is healthy and pretty amazing :) I'm very happy!!'. (sic)

This track was recorded for the soundtrack to 'Fifty Shades Darker', it was the most popular hit from the movie franchise. Listen to 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever' on YouTube.

Niall delighted One Direction fans in September 2016 when he dropped his debut solo single 'This Town'. The track was the lead single from his debut album 'Flicker' which was released in 2017. The singer went on to release hits such as 'Slow Hands' and 'Nice To Meet Ya', before dropping his second solo album, titled 'Heartbreak Weather' in March 2020.

Louis teamed up with American DJ Steve Aoki to release his debut solo single 'Just Hold On' in December 2016. Just days after the tragic death of his mum Johannah Deakin, Louis gave an emotional performance of the track on The X Factor. The singer went on to release hits like 'Miss You', 'Back To You' and 'We Made It', before dropping his debut solo album 'Walls' in January 2020.

Despite being on a hiatus, Liam and Louis attended the 2017 BRIT Awards to collect the band's seventh BRIT Award! The band picked up an award in the Best Video category for their single 'History'.

In March 2017, after one of the most secretive pregnancies ever, Liam announced he'd become a dad after his then girlfriend Cheryl Cole had given birth to a baby boy called Bear Grey Payne. The couple sadly split in 2018, but both Liam and Cheryl continue to co-parent Bear.

After much anticipation, in April 2017 Harry released his debut solo single 'Sign Of The Times', showing a complete different sound to One Direction. The singer went on to release his self-titled debut album in the same year, before dropping his second album 'Fine Line' in 2019. In May 2020, Harry excited fans by releasing the amazing music video for his latest single 'Watermelon Sugar'.

Following on from his 1D band mates, Liam dropped his debut solo single 'Strip That Down' in 2017, before going on to release hits like 'Get Low', 'For You' and 'Bedroom Floor'. Despite making fans wait, Liam went on to drop his debut solo album 'LP1' in December 2019, before teaming up with Alesso for the single 'Midnight' in 2020.

After releasing his debut solo music, Harry also landed a role in Christopher Nolan's box office movie Dunkirk! Harry played the role of a young solider called Alex, as hundreds of thousands of soldiers tried to evacuate from Dunkirk beach during the early stages of World War II.

After years of dating on and off, in 2020 American model Gigi Hadid announced she was expecting her first child with former 1D singer Zayn Malik! They welcomed a baby girl called Khai in September 2020, before splitting in October 2021.

After years of working on their solo careers, rumours of a One Direction reunion really started to become more frequent in 2020, as the boys celebrate their 10th year anniversary. Despite a number of the lads teasing the possibility of a 1D reunion, up until now, nothing has been confirmed.

In May 2022, One Direction's 'Drag Me Down' music video reached 1 billion views on YouTube. The song was originally released in 2015, it was the first music video to not feature former member Zayn Malik, who had left earlier that year.