Artist of The Week: One Direction

                ONE DIRECTION

Discography:
    Up All Night (2011)
      Take Me Home (2012)

Members:
      Niall Horan
        -Born on September 13, 1993
        -Middle name James
        -Played Guitar since childhood
        -Was in the school chor
        -Musical interests include Frank Sinatra, Michael Buble, Bon Jovi and the Eagles
      Zayn Malik
        -Born on January 12, 1993
        -Middle name Javadd
        -Says Urban music is his main musical influence
        -Says Bruno Mars would be a dream collaborator
        -Has admitted being addicted to cigarettes but in 2011 said that he'd like to quit
      Liam Payne
        -Born on August 29, 1993
        -Middle name James
        -Until he was 4 Liam had to have regular tests done as doctors notices that one of his kidneys was scarred and dysfuntional
        -Justin Timberlake is a huge musical influence
        -Took up boxing at age 12
      Harry Styles
        -Born on February 1, 1994
        -Middle name Edward
        -Had a part time job at the W. Mandeville Bakery in Holmes Chapel
        -Musical influences include Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Foster the People, Coldplay and Kings of Leon
        -Was the lead singer for the band "White Eskimo"
      Louis Tomilson
        -Born on December 24, 1991
        -Middle name William
        -Had small acting rolls on an ITV1 drama film "If I Had You" and BBC's "Waterloo Road"
        -Says that landing the role of Danny Zuko in the Hall Cross production of "Grease" motivated him to audition for "The X Factor"
        -Biggest musical influence and idol is Robbie Williams. Also a big fan of Ed Sheeran describing him as "phenomenal"

Band Formation:
      All of the members auditioned for the television show "The X Factor" as solo artists. However as solo acts they weren't progressing. Guest judge Nicole Scherzinger suggested they put them together as a boy band. The group were put together for two weeks to get to know each other and practice. Harry Styles came up with the band name, One Direction. While the band gained wide success they still only finished in third place. After the X Factor Live Tour the band began recording their debut album.


-The bands single "What Makes You Beautiful" was number 1 on the UK Singles Chart. It was also the most pre-ordered single in Sony Music Entertainment history

-In November 2011 they signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America

-"What Makes You Beautiful" was released in the US in February 2012 where it debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #28. It was the highest debut for a British act since 1998

-Opened for Big Time Rush for their first North America concert tour

-Their first studio album "Up All Night" was released globally in early 2012. It became the UK's fastest selling album of 2011 and was a chart topper in 16 different countries

-They were inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for being the first British group in US chart history to enter at number one on the Billboard 200 with their debut album

Videos:
Little Things: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGPeNN9S0Fg
Kiss You: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4cdfRohhcg
What Makes You Beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJO3ROT-A4E
Life While We're Young: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbPED9bisSc

Websites:
Twitter
     -Band https://twitter.com/onedirection
     -Niall https://twitter.com/NiallOfficial
     -Zayn https://twitter.com/zaynmalik
     -Liam https://twitter.com/Real_Liam_Payne
     -Harry https://twitter.com/Harry_Styles
     -Louis https://twitter.com/Louis_Tomlinson
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/onedirectionmusic
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/OneDirectionVEVO?feature=watch
Band Website: http://www.onedirectionmusic.com/us/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Directi