One Direction (commonly abbreviated as
1D) are an English-Irish
pop boy band based in London, composed of
Niall Horan,
Liam Payne,
Harry Styles,
Louis Tomlinson, and previously,
Zayn Malik until his departure from the band on 25 March 2015. The group signed with
Simon Cowell's record label
Syco Records after forming and finishing third in the
seventh series of the British televised singing competition
The X Factor in 2010. Propelled to international success by
social media, One Direction's four albums,
Up All Night (2011),
Take Me Home (2012),
Midnight Memories (2013) and
Four (2014) topped charts in most major markets, and generated hit singles including "
What Makes You Beautiful", "
Live While We're Young", and "
Story of My Life". Their fifth studio album,
Made in the A.M., was released in November 2015.