Niall James Horan (born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter and guitarist, known as a member of the
boy band One Direction. In 2010, Horan auditioned as a solo candidate for the seventh series of the British televised singing competition
The X Factor. He failed to progress to the "Boys" category at the "judges' houses", but after guest judge
Nicole Scherzinger suggested that Niall joined One Direction, with
Harry Styles,
Zayn Malik,
Liam Payne and
Louis Tomlinson, the group became a reality. The five-piece band made it to the final and finished in third place. Even though they didn't win, One Direction was signed by
Simon Cowell to a reported £2 million
Syco record contract.