At the same time, they were being filmed by director Morgan Spurlock for This Is Us, a mix of documentary and concert footage that proved to be successful at the box office when it was released in August of 2013. One Direction then embarked on a globe-spanning tour in which the band played over 100 shows, including six sold-out nights at London's massive O2 Arena. The singles "Live While We're Young" and "Little Things" also hit number one across the globe, and "Kiss You" reached the Top Ten in the U.S. The album proved to be another smash and topped charts around the world, earning multi-platinum certification in half-a-dozen countries.
Highlighting more of the band's melodic pop, Take Me Home featured songs and production from Sweden's Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, and Savan Kotecha, who worked on Up All Night, as well as contributions from singer/songwriter Ed Sheeran. In late 2012, One Direction released their sophomore album, Take Me Home. In 2012, One Direction became the first British band to debut on top of the Billboard 200 list when Up All Night sold over 176,000 copies during its first week of release in America. The full-length album Up All Night followed soon after. Following a sponsorship deal with Nintendo DS and a book, Forever Young, named after their cover of the Alphaville classic that was intended to be their winner's song, they released their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful," in late 2011. Spotting the potential of five Justin Bieber-esque teen pin-ups, Cowell signed them to his Syco label in a two-million dollar deal, and after performing on the X-Factor tour, the quintet began work on its debut album with Savan Kotecha ( Britney Spears, Enrique Iglesias).
Mentored by Simon Cowell, they soon became one of the favorites to win the show, thanks to renditions of Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You," Elton John's "Something About the Way You Look Tonight," and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart." However, despite receiving a standing ovation for their duet with Robbie Williams ("She's the One") in the live final, they eventually finished third behind Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.
Each originally entered 2010's seventh series of The X Factor as individuals, but following a suggestion from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, they were grouped together to become One Direction. The group was formed by Niall Horan from Mullingar, Ireland Zayn Malik from Bradford Harry Styles from Cheshire Louis Tomlinson from Doncaster, and Liam Payne from Wolverhampton (the latter had previously reached the judge's house stages of The X-Factor as a 14-year-old back in 2008). The quintet outdid all of its predecessors, becoming the biggest boy band since Take That, selling millions of albums and singles, filling arenas and making movies, all while hitting number one many times over across the world with undeniably hooky songs and plenty of boy-next-door charm. 10, 2016).Following the success of JLS and the Wanted, X-Factor contestants One Direction were the next group of heartthrobs to help revive the boy band concept. The Pop Songs chart, which began in 1992, measures total weekly plays, as tabulated by Nielsen Music/MRC Data, among its reporting panel of over 160 mainstream top 40 stations.Īs a group, One Direction has tallied 13 Pop Songs entries, in 2012-16, including four top 10s: debut smash “What Makes You Beautiful” (No. “Pillowtalk,” two weeks, beginning May 7, 2016 “Watermelon Sugar,” one week to-date, Aug. (Zayn departed the act, which is currently on hiatus, in 2015.) No other group has more than two members with solo No.
5, he joins 25 other acts historically by placing a record two songs in the top five simultaneously.)įour members of One Direction have topped Pop Songs. Both songs are from his second solo LP, Fine Line, released on Erskine/Columbia Records. Styles first ruled the ranking with “Adore You” on the list dated April 11. 1s on Billboard‘s Pop Songs radio airplay chart, as “Watermelon Sugar” ascends from No. Harry Styles becomes the first member of One Direction to notch multiple No.