In their 2011 propulsion across the sea from the UK, they rode the wave of the first year that parents let their teens have Twitter accounts. That’s because - as if fated by the gods - One Direction was born on the eve of social media dominance. One direction was born during a magic moment They’re kept alive by GIFs and fan accounts on Twitter and the bloggers who love them, including those at the (sadly) soon-to-be-shuttered Hearst site Sugarscape, a more readable and diligent version of Tiger Beat that has followed their every move since day one. Today, they’re as omnipresent on the internet as they were at any point in their five-year reign. A cultural object so serendipitously conceived that it will never happen again quite the same way, and so perfectly timed that it’s stubbornly refusing to go away. All there is that matters is One Direction itself. There’s no slang, no fashion trend, no musical innovation, no theme, no sound, no movement that this group of boys created on purpose and willed into existence. There’s no mainstream phenomenon you can point to that was obviously inspired by One Direction - though one could make the case that Taylor Swift’s pop about-face wouldn’t have gone so cleanly without the opportunity to write a dozen or so songs about Harry Styles. By the less tangible measure of cultural influence, things get a little murkier. They churned out five albums in as many years, and even nabbed some co-signs from the ‘70s and ‘80s icons they had so charmingly ripped off. They’re the most profitable boy band in history. One direction is the highest-paid band of 2016īy the numbers, One Direction was and is an undeniable force to be reckoned with. It was a steady revenue provider well into 2016.
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It sold 2.4 million copies in the remaining month and a half of that year, and then took 45 weeks to drop out of the top 200. Made in the AM, released in October of last year just before the hiatus, was their fifth album to debut in the Billboard top 10 - breaking a record set by The Beatles. But the group also still has nearly 9 million monthly listeners on Spotify - more than four times the number boasted by 5 Seconds of Summer, their knighted successor. A big reason for One Direction’s $110 million haul for 2016 is simply rolled over cash from their On the Road Again tour, which grossed over $200 million and wrapped in late fall of 2015. Regardless, One Direction was Forbes’ second highest-paid musical act for the year. The boys have been busy, but they haven’t been together. In the meantime most of the members have moved on to new projects: a solo recording contract here, a label imprint there… a Christopher Nolan film, a golf management company, an embarrassing production moniker, an Ed Sheeran-lite debut single. The following month, Payne and Henry rekindled their romance.One Direction has been on an indefinite “hiatus” since December 13th, 2015 - one year ago today. I just wasn’t giving a very good version of me anymore, that I didn’t appreciate and I didn’t like being.” “I feel like that’s where I got to in my last relationship. “I’m just not very good at them so I just need to work on myself before I put myself on to somebody else,” the “For You” singer explained. Payne explained that he has the same problem in all of his relationships. I’ve just not been very good at relationships.” “I feel like more than anything at this point, I’m more disappointed in myself that I keep on hurting people. “I am indeed ,” he said during an episode of the “The Diary of a CEO” podcast at the time. The Englishman confirmed that they split in June 2021. Payne went Instagram official with Maya Henry in 2018, and the duo got engaged two years later. Payne and Cheryl Cole dated from 2016 to 2018 and share a son, Bear. The “Strip That Down” singer dated his childhood friend Sophia Smith from 2013 to 2015. His fellow 1D dad, Payne, also went through some ups and downs in his romantic life. He shares a son, Freddie, with ex-girlfriend Briana Jungwirth. Tomlinson had an on-and-off relationship with Eleanor Calder from 2011 until 2015. “They were very careful about it and even sleuthy at times, although the small group of people who were on set with them every day eventually figured it out.”
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“Olivia and Harry were able to keep their relationship under wraps for a bit before it became public knowledge,” a second source shared with Us at the time.
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“Her intelligence and independent nature were the first things that drew him to her.”Īnother insider revealed the lengths that the pair went to in order to keep their romance quiet on set.
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“Harry likes that Olivia is so driven and confident and smart,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly about the couple following their first public outing in January 2021.