We all know where we were when we heard the news Zayn Malik was leaving One Direction, and if you weren’t a fan, you either heard cries from the girls around you or every news outlet speaking on the topic.
One Direction was a band curated on the singing competition show The X Factor back in 2010 made up of members Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne. Although the band did not win their season, they captured the hearts of teenage girls around the world.
Boy bands losing their members isn’t a new concept, so why did everyone lose their minds when Zayn left One Direction?
At the time (in 2015), One Direction was at the ultimate peak of their career, their picture was on every piece of merchandise possible, their concert tickets were impossible to get, and every girl in America (and let’s be honest, all over the world) thought they would end up marrying one of them.
When you’re a fan, especially that deep into a fandom, you tend to create parasocial relationships with those celebrities, which is why many people felt personally victimized when Malik left the band.
Initially, Malik left the band due to stress, as we know now, the band was under immense pressure from their horrible management team. Malik also wanted to pursue a solo career, which is not unusual for former band members to embark on. We’ve seen success stories like Justin Timberlake after he left NSYNC, Michael Jackson after he left his family band The Jackson 5, Paul McCartney after he left The Beatles, just to name a few.
One Direction was managed under Modest Management, which also managed Five Seconds of Summer for some time. As a fan of both bands, I’ve only heard terrible things about how they were mistreated and overworked by their management. It would make sense that Five Seconds of Summer were under Modest at the time because they got discovered by Louis Tomlinson and went on to tour with the band on both the 2013 Take Me Home Tour and the 2014 Where We Are Tour. Modest Management was founded by Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee in 2004 after they got fired from Sony Music. Since Griffiths had a close relationship with The X Factor’s Simon Cowell, the company went on to manage X Factor contestants. As the One Direction boys gained more media attention, the stricter their management became. They were constantly locked in their hotel rooms and were heavily monitored by their security team. While they were stuck in those rooms, they didn’t even get a break. They were forced to continue writing, recording, and promoting their music. If the boys got too close that rumors started to form, you wouldn’t see them interact in public. Their image was heavily controlled and manipulated to fit Modest’s ideals. Allegedly, if the boys infringed on their rules, they would be punished in whatever way management saw fit. Modest crafted the band’s image to be squeaky clean teenage boys, subjecting them to Disney Channel like behavior. It’s clear that they did not have a supportive team behind them, instead they had one that would screw them over if they had a chance to advance themselves. The abusive treatment led to personal issues for the band members, with some dealing with mental health problems or even turning to addiction. Eventually, there were rumors that some of the members weren’t getting along as well as we all thought they did. Liam Payne revealed in an episode of Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast that he got into a physical altercation with another band member he didn’t particularly get along with, resulting in that unnamed member throwing him up against a wall where he said “If you don’t remove those hands, there’s a high likelihood you’ll never use them again”.
There’s a significant amount of pressure being a young star in Hollywood, especially with how fast the band gained their fame. When you become a global phenomenon, your whole life will change overnight. Suddenly, the boys were subjected to both traditional and social media frenzies, public scrutiny, and high expectations. There was an intense pressure to keep up in order to keep the fans happy. Once you’re at the top of the ladder, it’s scary to come down. There will always be someone who wants your spot, so you have to figure out how much you’re willing to sacrifice to stay on top.
Only a year after Malik left, the rest of the band decided to take an indefinite hiatus, which till this day fans are still asking and crossing their fingers for a reunion. When Malik went on Call Her Daddy, he said “I think I’d known for a minute, there was a lot of—- politics going on, certain people were doing certain things, certain people didn’t sign contracts, so I knew something was happening. I just got ahead of the curve if I’m being honest with you”. He also left because he wanted to be the first member to release a solo record, which enhanced the competitive rumors amongst the band members. He also revealed there was some tension and issues with some of the friendships within the band. Think about it, if you had to spend 24/7 with the same people who you also viewed as competition, wouldn’t you go insane?
Although not every member has come forward with the full extent of what they experienced during their time in the band, most of what we know is because of their fans, the Directioners. Fan culture is no joke. You wouldn’t believe the impact and power fans have over their favorite artists. At the end of the day, music is made for personal reasons, but it’s made for the fans. Fans keep the momentum going for their favorite stars, they are marketers, they are promoters, and most importantly they are devoted to the artist more than any industry exec would be. Being a member of a fandom benefits both sides of those involved. It gives the fans a community and a place where they feel like they belong, and on the flip side the artist now has essentially an army that would go to war for them at their disposal. This isn’t a new concept. We’ve seen the impact Beatlemania and Elvis Presley had on young girls, and I truly believe those fans paved the way for fan culture for years to follow. What Directioners have over those fans is the power of social media, and that allowed the band to establish a deeper connection with their fans, which only made them more intense and furthered those parasocial relationships. Social media platforms became public forums and places for fans to show their creativity. They were making fan edits and promotional content on their own, which is any record label and management team’s dream.
Zayn leaving the band impacted the Directioners in a way I’ve never seen before. I mean I was only eleven, so I did not understand the full impact. Many fans felt betrayed and heartbroken, and many couldn’t believe he was leaving the band during a time of peak success. Of course, there were fans who took it entirely too far and decided to destroy merchandise with Zayn’s face on it and spread hate messages on social media. Some fans were extremely impacted so much that they had to be excused from school or requested time off from work to cope with the news. Coming from experience, it was not a great day to be a girl in middle school. To contrast the negative reactions, there were also a lot of fans who supported Malik in his decision and even had a trending hashtag on Twitter to support the singer (#AlwaysInOurHeartsZayn).
Since then, each member decided to stay in the industry and continue their music careers, even venturing into other avenues such as acting. There’s been varying levels of success, with some members achieving more mainstream success than others. After Malik left the band, he signed to RCA Records and released his debut album Mind of Mine shortly after that. He has now released four studio albums. Styles signed to Columbia Records in 2016 and released his debut self-titled album in 2017. He has now released three studio albums. Styles has also dipped his toes in acting, and has starred in Dunkirk, Don’t Worry Darling, and My Policeman. Styles also made history as the first (solo) man to be on the cover of Vogue. In 2021, Styles founded Pleasing, a beauty and lifestyle brand. Horan signed to Capitol Records in 2016 and released his debut album Flicker in 2017. He now has three studio albums. Horan also went on to coach seasons 23 and 24 of The Voice as well as co-founding Modest! Golf Management. Tomlinson and Payne both released several singles before debuting their EPs in 2019 and 2020. Tomlinson now has two studio albums. Tomlinson created his own record label, Triple Strings Ltd, as well as the Away from Home music festival. In 2023, he launched his own streetwear brand 28. As well as releasing one studio album, Payne co-owned and co-founded several brands including real-estate and music related companies: Hampton Music Ltd, Hampton Publishing Ltd, Hampton Records Ltd, Long Play Touring LLP, and Second Way Property Ltd. They all continued to go on tour and went on to win several awards of their own. Most notably, Styles won “Album of The Year” and “Best Pop Vocal Album” at the 2023 Grammys and “Pop Solo Performance” at the 2021 Grammys.
It’s impossible to talk about the band and their lasting legacy without acknowledging the heartbreaking loss Liam Payne, who tragically passed away earlier this year. Liam’s memory will always be alive both in the hearts of Directioners and throughout the music industry.
Malik is currently on his Stairway to the Sky tour which will conclude on March 28th to a sold-out show in Mexico City.
By Alexa LaMalfa