By Sydney Kaplaan ’17
From the formation of the band in 2011 after their individual auditions on the X Factor, the five guys in One Direction have been a force to be reckoned with. Winning 194 awards from over 46 different music award shows and competitions, they have been the iconic boy band of their generation. Claire Lonergan ’17 recalls her past love for the boys:
“I used to be completely 100 percent obsessed with One Direction. I spent hours in my room watching YouTube videos of them hanging out with each other and their performances on X Factor. I was also the classic fan girl who cried when I went to their concert both times that I saw them live” she said.
But after Zayn Malik left the group in March 2015, things started to go downhill. “I could tell then that they were all on such a high point in their career. I remember my sister remarking on Zayn’s gloomy disposition the second time we saw them in concert…we kind of had a feeling they would split soon after” Lonergan continued.
The group released the single “Drag Me Down” after Zayn left, but many fans could tell that it wasn’t the same. Many fans were waiting for a celebratory reunion of the group a couple months down the road, but they realized it’s something that wasn’t coming after Zayn’s album “Mind of Mine” was released. The group has been on a hiatus for over seven months, but in that time is when these artists have started to go in their own way.
Today, undeclared leader of the group Harry Styles has been working on making his acting debut in the upcoming movie “Dunkirk.” He is also believed to have signed a record deal with Columbia Records. Liam Payne has put his future plans of a solo career on hold to spend time with his girlfriend Cheryl Cole. Niall Horan has been hard at work on his own solo album as well, and has released the single “This Town” which has reached the top of the charts. Louis Tomlinson has been occupied with his newborn son Freddie that he has with ex-girlfriend Briana Jungwirth.
Their separate ways have taken an effect on some of their fans. Long time fan Mikayla Didonato “started crying when [she] found out the whole group split up” she revealed. Both Lonergan and Didonato do not listen to any of the members’ individual music. Willemijn ten Cate ’17 no longer listens to them as well. “They had more power as artists when they were together…they complemented each other” she said.
Sam Gebicki ’17 does not believe they will ever have a comeback as a group. “Two of them already went solo and I was really only into them in middle school” she said. Alyssa Hyman ’18 agrees. “Their music style as a group was popular at the time, but has kind of gone out of style…I don’t really hear about them that often anymore” she said.
Many of the fans that loved them in middle school feel they have grown out of the “boyband craze” the same way the members did. Giselle Briand ’17 explains that she was “really into them in middle school… At the time I really enjoyed their music and of course loved the idea of a boyband, however, I can’t say they had a huge affect on my childhood or how I am today.”
