They’ve got a whole lot of history; every living member of One Direction will perform and release music this year.
After forming on the British reality music competition show, The X-Factor, in 2010, the five then-teenagers took the pop music world by storm.
Over the course of five years, the band sold over 200 million records and won over 200 awards. It was the first of three bands to have its first four albums reach number one on the Billboard 200 and the only one to have each debut at that spot.
Following a now indefinite 18-month hiatus beginning in January 2016 after Zayn Malik’s departure the year prior, all five members formed solo careers of their own.
On Oct. 16, 2024, band member and award-winning artist Liam Payne died after falling from a third-floor balcony in Argentina at age 31.
Payne’s solo work consisted of one studio album and was in the process of creating his second at the date of his death. Beginning with his 2017 debut single “Strip That Down,” he achieved great success and sold over 18 million singles over the first three years of his career.
Since Payne’s death, the other four members of One Direction remained relatively silent on social media and in the world of music, simply honoring Payne through tribute posts on Instagram.
In January of this year, Louis Tomlinson released his third album, “How Did I Get Here?”. The 12-track project gained over 5.75 million streams on Spotify within the first 24-hours of release. It debuted at number one on the U.K. Albums Chart and earned a top 10 spot on five U.S. Billboard charts.
The album’s three singles, “Lemonade,” “Palaces” and “Imposter” were released in September, November and January, respectively.
Also in January, Harry Styles announced his fourth album, “Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally,” which was released March 6.
The lead single, “Aperture,” released Jan. 22 — the same day as Tomlinson’s “HDIGH” — broke records as the biggest debut for a solo male artist in global Spotify history with over 12 million streams.
Styles’ 12-track album debuted with the biggest 2026 release, making it the largest opening week of his career. The album also marked the biggest first week for a male solo artist since Ed Sheeran’s 2017 “Divide.”
Niall Horan also announced in January his next single was on the way, in collaboration with singer-songwriter Myles Smith. Their tune “Drive Safe” was released Feb. 6.
Nearly three years since Horan’s last release, the single debuted within the top 10 of multiple U.K. charts.
Following the collaboration with Smith, Horan released his first solo single since his 2023 album “The Show” on March 20. The song, “Dinner Party,” serves as the lead single for his upcoming fourth album, which will be released in June.
Malik released his fourth album, “Room Under the Stairs,” in May 2024 following a 3-year intermission from his last work. Since then, he has performed various shows globally, including a seven-night Las Vegas residency that ran in January.
This tour and residency, “Stairway to the Sky Tour,” marked his first solo tour since his final performance with One Direction.
Malik’s fifth album will be released April 17. The 15-track album, “Konnakol,” is followed by his first solo headline and stadium tour, “The Konnakol" Tour, which will begin April 20 in New York. The tour is scheduled to run until November, closing in Miami.
Likewise, Tomlinson, Styles and Horan are all performing this year to celebrate their new releases.
Tomlinson’s “How Did We Get Here?” World Tour began last month in Hamburg and ends in July in Miami.
Beginning in May, Styles kicks off his Together, Together Tour with 10 shows in Amsterdam. These will be followed by 12 in London, four in São Paulo, six in Mexico City, a whopping 30 in New York and five across Australia. The tour closes in December.
Horan kicks off his U.K. and Europe “Dinner Party Live on Tour” in Birmingham, England, in September, after co-headlining a few shows this summer with Thomas Rhett and performing at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in May.
The tour is currently set to run until November, closing in Belfast.
In an iHeart Radio Canada interview, Horan reacted to the fact that all bandmates are releasing music and touring in the same year.
“It’s kind of cool though,” Horan said. “All of us are kind of doing it all at the same time. I think it’s pretty sweet. Everyone’s releasing good music and just getting out there. To be fair, all we’ve ever known is touring. So, it’s not a shock to me that we’re all out.”
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