By: KAYLA McDONALD
In July of 2020, One Direction celebrated their 10 year anniversary of becoming a band on the British TV show, The X Factor. The weeks leading up to the One Direction anniversary were filled with excitement with fans speculating what the day may hold. Fans took to Twitter with one fan saying “10 years later and my One Direction infection is still as bad as ever” One Direction Infection was a name given to super fans at the beginning point of the bands worldwide success.
However, on July 23, 2020 the day that marked the 10 year anniversary of One Direction, fans were let down by what the band had planned for the milestone anniversary. Many fans thought the band would come back from their hiatus, a break they had been on since August of 2015, while some thought they would release an unseen music video for “Infinity” a song off of their 5th studio album. Although many predictions were made about what the band would do, not a single prediction was fulfilled. One Direction posted a short video on their official youtube channel that was footage from concerts that many fans had already seen. The excitement of the anniversary died quickly and people felt as though they should’ve done more to honor 10 years of them being a band.
In August of 2015, One Direction announced a 15 month break from producing music and going on tour. The news was announced to fans 6 months after band member Zayn Malik left One Direction while on tour. The news of Malik leaving the band was not received well with numerous assumptions about his departure being brought to social media. Some thought that Malik had left the band because he was not in good relations with his other bandmates anymore while some thought he left to pursue a solo career. The announcement of One Direction’s break was assumed for band members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson to come to terms with the departure of Malik. However, what was supposed to be an 18 month break has lasted for over 5 years. Although the band has not released an official statement of their split-up, fans still speculate that it has already happened while some remain hopeful that one day the band will release more music and go on tour again.
Now, more than 5 years since their hiatus the members of One Direction have produced solo music with their careers taking off. Harry Styles has released 2 albums since the group has announced their break and gone on his first solo tour in the year of 2018 for his first album “HS1”. In 2016 Louis Tomlinson released his first song with DJ friend, Steve Aoki. Tomlinson also released his first album “Walls” in 2020 and announced his first solo tour which has since been pushed back due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Niall Horan released his first album “Flickr” in 2017 and went on tour for it within the following year. In 2020 Horan released his second album “Heartbreak Weather” and announced his tour. Liam Payne released his debut album LP1 in 2019 and has since released multiple singles.
With the massive amounts of success that boys have had with their solo careers, it’s unlikely for One Direction to have a reunion anytime soon. Although the band mates all support their individual careers it seems like their passion for being a band has burned out substantially.
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