Five Directions: How One Direction's Solo Careers Have Successfully Flexed Their Individual Talents

publish date: 2017-10-20
source: billboard

At the end of 2015, One Direction fans around the world were feeling sad and uncertain. It was the beginning of One Direction’s hiatus, and while the guys claimed it would only be an 18-month break, Directioners had a sinking feeling that there wasn’t actually a plan for the guys to come back together in the foreseeable future.
Shortly after that, Zayn Malik (who left the group on March 25, 2015) delivered the first of many One Direction solo projects with the sultry and (scandalous) “Pillowtalk” on Jan. 26, 2016. Although he was already not part of the group, it was the first time fans heard a 1Der do his own thing — and it was just the beginning.
A year and a half later, all five One Direction guys (Malik, Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne) have released solo material, with Horan becoming the third to release a full-length album, Flicker, this Friday (Oct. 20) -- also the same day that Payne released his second official single, “Bedroom Floor.”