9781422286623

Albums Chart and became the fastest-selling debut album of 2011 in the UK. In the US it did even better and it debuted at #1. This epic rise made One Direction the first UK group in history to hit the top spot on the US Billboard 200 with a debut album! This news in March 2012 followed the group’s success at the UK’s BRIT Awards in February when “What Makes You Beautiful” beat favorite, Adele, to the coveted Best British Single. Their second album, “Take Me Home,” was released in November 2012. The boys had all wanted solo careers before they found fame with One Direction on The X Factor and although it began the start of an exciting rise to fame for each of them, they gave everything they had, built up lasting friendships and working relationships, and helped to make the show a real success in 2010. These five boys made the show extremely popular that year and helped to establish it and One Direction beyond the shores of the UK and Ireland. Boy bands had been fading on the chart scene for a few years, but a crop of British bands including The Wanted and now, One Direction, have changed all that and boy bands look like they’re here to stay. Appearing on The X Factor gave the boys an instant fan base from which to build on and they know that their fans are the ones who have helped them get where they are today. Follow the success…

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RIGHT: One Direction (L-R) Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, (with mentor Simon Cowell), Zayn Malik, and Niall Horan during The X Factor Press Conference, 2010.