All from poor or middle-income families: The story of One Direction

Summary of the story: Pop boy band One Direction, known on the X-Factor program broadcast in England, consists of five members. The members of this group, aged between 17-20, participate individually in the 2010 X-Factor contest and are brought together by Simon Cowell, the producer and jury of the game show. After that, they leave the competition in the group category with the third place, but during the competition they have a large fan base, especially girls between the ages of 12-19.

How did One Direction come about?

One Direction is a four-member British band. The band members are Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne and Niall Horan. They finished third in the seventh season of The X Factor, a game show broadcast in England. Later, the band signed with Syco Music and made their first recording. They debuted with "What Makes You Beautiful". Zayn Malik left the group in 2015.

The paths of the boys of the One Direction band crossed in 2010 at the "X Factor" sound contest in the UK. All 5 members of the group chose to enter the competition by performing solo performances separately. In the following years, the group made a rapid entry into the music world by signing an agreement with Syco Music. One Direction's albums include; It replaced Upp All Night, Take Me Home, Midnight Memories, Four, and Made In The A. M. At the end of the group 5 album, they decided to go on their way alone due to disagreements between them.

Among One Direction songs; Best Song Ever, Drag Me Down, Gotta Be You, History, Kiss You, Little Things, Live While We're Young, Moments, More Than This, Night Changes, One Thing, One Way or Another, Perfect, Rock Me, Steal My Girl replaced What Makes You Beautiful and You & I.

One Direction's journey, which started in 2010, turned into a completely different dimension with Zayn Malik's desire to leave the group. While Zayn Malik did not talk about the reason for leaving One Direction for many years; He decided to break his silence. Malik, who made a statement for the first time about the reason for the separation in his book named "Zayn", stated that he had different musical tastes with his other bandmates. Owner for this situation; “I continued to stay in the group at that time. Because we were seeing huge support from millions of fans around the world. I also respected the support of my group mates. Frankly, it was quite challenging for me that our musical tastes were incompatible. I felt like I had fallen into a mold that never belonged to me. I wanted to go into the studio and say words that reflect me, not read what others have written.”

One Direction group, which became famous with the song "We Are Young", tried to continue on their way for a while after Zayn Malik's departure, but unfortunately they were not successful. The group said goodbye to their fans in 2015.

WHO IS NIALL HORAN?

The successful singer whose full name is Niall James Horan was born on September 13, 1993 in Ireland. Educated at a boarding Christian school, Horan was in the school choir at the time. Horan, who has been playing the guitar and making music since his childhood, participated in the 7th season of the X Factor sound contest when he was 16 years old. Horan, who sang the song "So Sick", received a passing grade from all the jury members.

WHO IS ZAYN MALIK?

The singer whose full name is Zain Javadd Malik was born on January 12, 1993 in England. While the performance of Malik, who participated in the X-Factor sound competition in 2010, was not shown on television, it was opened to the internet in the following years. Malik, who is a fan of the R&B music genre, chose to participate in the voice contest with the song "Let Me Love You".

WHO IS LIAM PAYNE?

The young star whose full name is Liam James Payne was born on August 29, 1993 in England. When he was 14 years old, Liam first entered the X-Factor contest and was rejected because of his age. Trying his luck again at the age of 16, Liam managed to get the judges to like him by singing the song "Stop Crying Your Heart Out".

WHO IS HARRY STYLES?

The young star whose full name is Harold Edward Styles was born on February 1, 1994 in England. Harry first performed as a soloist in the band White Escimo, which included Haydn Morris, Nick Clough and Will Sweeny. He participated in a competition called "Battle Of Bands" with this group and crowned his voice with the first place. Harry participated in the X-Factor vocal competition in 2010 with the song "Isn't She Lovely" and managed to get a passing grade from all the judges.

WHO IS LOUIS TOMLINSON?

The young singer whose full name is Louis William Tomlinson was born on December 24, 1991 in England. The star artist, whose identity is Louis Troy Austin, became interested in acting before music. Deciding to go to acting school after playing a small role in a program called Fat Friends, Louis appeared in the TV series If I Had You and Waterloo Road, which came to the BBC screens.

Participating in Season 7 of X-Factor in 2010, Louis sang “Hey There Delilah” and managed to get three yeses.

WHAT SEPARATES ONE DIRECTION?

What's behind this popularity? Simon Cowell wrote at one point that “all of a sudden everybody loved them, but why? I really don't know that," he says. Then it is quickly concluded that "they became so popular because they are very talented and make good music". However, the music produced is not much different from the productions of the European and US popular music industries, which have been repeated for the last 15-20 years.

Niall Horan, one of the band members, said in an interview, “We are different. For example, we don't wear the same clothes as other boy groups. We also make good music,” he says. So, Horan says the difference between them and bands like The Beatles or, more recently, the Backstreet Boys, is that "members don't wear the same clothes." Otherwise, he cannot possibly think that they make better music than these groups.

So what really makes this group special, what sets it apart from the others?

The band members repeat this emphasis in newspaper interviews and in the movie. They have a normal life out of the spotlight, they lived like all of us before they became famous.

All of them are children of poor or middle-income families. Before Harry Styles joined the X-Factor, he used to work at a bakery, Louis Tomlinson wasn't doing much in school but was passing grades. Zayn Malik, who is Pakistani on his paternal side and the only brunette member of the group, had been discriminated against at school. Liam Payne's father was a worker etc. The stories go on like this. Indeed, these are the children of working-class families who make up the largest segment of society, similar to all of us. If they could become famous, why shouldn't we? There is nothing that makes them special. Just a little luck, taking chances, that's all.

Moreover, they are very young and if we do not take into account Niall's amateur level guitar knowledge, they cannot play any instrument. We don't have to blow people's minds for months (perhaps years) to learn an instrument. In short, it doesn't take much effort! Even the road is ready, X-Factor etc. By applying to the programs, we too can become a world-famous star one day.

A familiar story that tastes like pumpkin

This is not the first time capitalism has done this. It creates/produces and releases a new popular icon periodically. However, when it comes to the difference between the previous ones and One Direciton, it can be thought that the quality of music has decreased seriously and the age range has been pulled back a lot.

For example, in the documentary about them, Liam tells Harry, "If I wasn't here, I'd be at the factory now." Harry also mentions the bread oven. If they had never taken this step, they would have had to go on with their damn worker lives.

Young boys from One Direction are probably very nice people. They followed their dreams and somehow got to the top of this hierarchy.