Exactly 10 years ago (July 23rd, 2010) during the X-Factor preliminary audition rounds, Simon Cowell called back contestants Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik, all who were rejected earlier as solo artists, back to the stage and announced that they would become a group and advance to the judges’ houses. Of course from there, the newly formed group, called One Direction, made it to the live show and finished third on the 7th Season of the X-Factor UK. During and after their time on the show, they gained countless UK and Irish fans until their debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” debuted on September 11, 2011, which took the world by storm.
Between 2011 and their last live performance on December 31st, 2015, they released five albums, toured the globe four times which included two stadium tours, released two concert and autobiographical movies, won numerous awards, broke multiple world records and had several songs from multiple albums hit the Billboard Top 10 chart!
In March 2015, Zayn decided to leave the band. In December of that year, One Direction announced an indefinite hiatus and all members (including Zayn) pursued solo careers in the following years continuing onward to the present. Since then, each has released a solo album or two, and some have even performed live and went on their first solo world tours. While not forgetting their “History” and roots, Harry Styles and Niall Horan have both performed several One Directon songs on their solo tours, and have given each their own flair to their covers. Harry Styles also starred in the 2017 historical war film Dunkirk.
On July 22nd, 2020, after being silent for two years on social media, One Direction posted on their Twitter, Instagram and YouTube accounts a picture with the words “10 Years of One Direction” written in it and the caption “Tomorrow! You and me got a whole lot of history #10YearsOf1D” in anticipation of their 10th anniversary the following day; “#10YearsofOneDiretion” started trending number one on Twitter.
On July 23rd, 2020, the band announced a new website (10yearsof1d.com) for fans to reminisce on their favorite One Direction memories, but it soon crashed shortly after it’s announcement due to the high volume of fans entering at once. One Direction also premiered a 5 minute video montage, titled “10 Years of One Direction,” in celebration of their anniversary. Additionally, the band also released a 10 Year Anniversary Schedule that will occur from July 23rd to July 28th, where remastered 4K versions of their past music videos and a concert video will be released daily.
In addition to One Direction’s main Twitter page, Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall all individually tweeted out their own tenth anniversary messages, thanking their managers, crew, label, families and of course, the fans. Louis even mentioned in one of his many tweets how proud he was of the four other members.
While it looks as though there won’t be an official One Direction reunion anytime soon (as much as we hope), fans can still feel nostalgic while listening to their classic hits, watching their music videos and old concert footage, re-reading old fanfictions and so on.
For fans who prefer to see their favorite members live, Harry Styles will be embarking on his 2nd world tour from September 2020 to October 2021 and Louis Tomlinson will be going on his debut tour from February 2021 to June 2021. Niall Horan is planning on rescheduling his 2020 tour to 2021, however dates have not yet been released.