One Direction delighted fans with hit after hit. Even after members Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik disbanded, they continued on that trajectory with their solo releases.
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The guys were formed into One Direction on the British version of The X Factor in 2010. The following year, One Direction’s debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful,” was a smash. It peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and was only the beginning of massive success to come.
The band released four albums together, before Malik departed in 2015. The foursome kept things going for one more album, ending things for good after the 2015 release of Made in the A.M.
Since then, each member has struck out on their own, most to great success. Keep reading for the best song the former One Direction members released as solo acts.
“As It Was” — Harry Styles
Styles has unquestionably had the greatest solo success following his time in One Direction. He dove onto the solo scene with “Sign of the Times” in 2017. He went on to release three albums—Harry Styles, Fine Line, and Harry’s House—all of which have been met with praise.
His best song, “As It Was,” came on his third LP. The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for 15 weeks. Its accompanying album was named the Album of the Year and the Best Pop Vocal Album at the 65th annual GRAMMY Awards.
“It’s about metamorphosis and embracing change, and former self and perspective shift, and all of that kind of stuff,” Styles told Audacy. “And it just felt like the thing I wanted to say, and the thing I wanted to be doing, and the kind of music I wanted to make coming back.”
“Pillowtalk” — Zayn Malik
Following his One Direction departure, Malik released his debut solo album, Mind of Mine, in 2016. Its lead single was “Pillowtalk,” which quickly took over as the No. 1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In an interview with the Sunday Times, Malik said the song was about “dirty and raw” sex.
“Everybody has sex, and it’s something people want to hear about,” he said. “It’s part of everybody’s life, a very big part of life! And you don’t want to sweep it under the carpet. It has to be talked about.”
Since the success of “Pillowtalk,” Malik has released three more albums—Icarus Falls (2018), Nobody Is Listening (2021), and Room Under the Stairs (2024).
“Slow Hands” — Niall Horan
Horan’s post-One Direction success is a sight to see. He released his first solo album, Flicker, in 2017. Horan’s lead single, “This Town,” got tons of radio play, but it was his second release, “Slow Hands,” that really got things moving. The song peaked at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Sexier in nature than “This Town,” “Slow Hands” really resonated with fans.
“The whole song was pretty off-the-cuff. I wanted it to be a little bit cheeky with the lyric,” Horan told SiriusXM’s Hits 1 host Mikey Piff. “We wrote this concept about being in the bar. The first line of the song is ‘We should take this back to my place’—usually that’s what the guy would say, but we flipped it that the girl would say that, and that’s what she said right to my face.”
“With the song, before we even wrote lyrics, we had this big track and it sounded quite sexy,” he added. “So we thought that this concept would match the vibe of the song, and I think we might have been right.”
He’s since released two albums—Heartbreak Weather and The Show.
“Strip That Down” — Liam Payne
Payne also struck out on his own after his One Direction fame. The singer’s debut solo single, “Strip That Down,” was a bonafide hit. It hit No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became beloved by fans.
“It just sets a few things straight, but then also the chorus is more about stripping back the music,” Payne told iHeartRadio of the song. “I like to hear it loud sometimes, but sometimes you got to strip it back.”
After “Strip It Down,” Payne dropped his only solo album, LP1. While he went on to release several singles, concluding with “Teardrops” in March 2024, Payne did not drop another LP before his death. The singer died Oct. 16 in Buenos Aires. He was 31.
“Two of Us” — Louis Tomlinson
Tomlinson has been the least commercially successful solo artist of his One Direction bandmates. That doesn’t mean that Tomlinson hasn’t released some great songs, though.
Tomlinson’s debut single release, “Just Hold On,” was overshadowed by his mom’s death from cancer in 2016. His following singles did not chart well, and Tomlinson signed with a new label. In 2019, he released “Two of Us,” a devastating tribute to his late mother.
“It was something I needed to get off my chest. I used to lean on my mum for a lot of things – anytime I needed advice on something she would be the first call I made,” he told BBC Radio 1 Newsbeat. “… I don’t want people to get caught up in the sadness of it. The song should be hopeful.”
Tomlinson went on to release two albums—Walls and Faith in the Future. He released a surprise live album, Live, in 2024.
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