Formation of One Direction

Date: July 23, 2010 • Location: London, United Kingdom

The English-Irish boy band One Direction (pictured) were formed while auditioning for the 2010 series of the British singing competition The X Factor.

One Direction, often shortened to 1D, were an English–Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group consisted of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik. The group sold over 70 million records worldwide, making them one of the best-selling boy bands of all time, before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016.