5 of Zayn's Career Highlights Since Leaving One Direction: A Timeline

publish date: 2017-11-02
source: billboard

When Zayn Malik slammed the door on his tenure as one-fifth of One Direction on March 25, 2015, he announced in an official statement on that fateful day, "I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old." 
But he has proceeded to be anything but a "normal" 23 or 24-year-old -- externally validated by winning the 2016 American Music Award for New Artist of the Year. The same can be said for his bandmates, as Harry Styles and Niall Horan have now joined Zayn in hitting No. 1 on 's Artist 100 chart (no other group has ever had even one member top this chart).