Since One Direction’s 2016 split, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson Zayn MalikThey have had different levels of success in music.
After abruptly leaving the boyband in March 2015, Malik became the first member to embark on a solo career. He signed a solo contract with RCA Records and released his first album. Mind of MineThe next year.
Styles followed Styles’ lead in June 2016, signing with Columbia Records again and dropping his self-titled debut in April 2017. Horan, meanwhile signed a contract with Capitol Records in September 2016 and released his first album. FlickerIn October 2017,
Payne and Tomlinson both had slower start to their solo careers. Each of them released a few singles in the years following 1D’s split, but they did not release full-length albums immediately. Payne’s debut, LP1, dropped in December 2019, while Tomlinson’s WallsRetailers will be notified by January 2020.
Although they parted ways, many of the former boy bands members have kept in touch throughout the years. In fact, Payne revealed in June 2021 that he and Styles had recently caught up following the “Watermelon Sugar” singer’s first Grammy win earlier that year.
“Yeah, I did speak to Harry, and it was really lovely,” Payne said during an Instagram Live at the time. “He called me because he has a sixth sense for if I’m struggling or if one of us is in trouble, I feel like.”
The “Live Forever” crooner added: “I spoke to him and it was a really lovely catch up actually. And I’ve got a lot of love for the man. He’s great, he’s really, really great.”
Payne is open for a possible 1D musical reunion in the near future.
“I’d love for us to get in a room at some point. I think it would be the best thing,” he explained, noting that all of his former bandmates have discussed a comeback mission and have “said it outside, but we’ve just not said it to each other.” He joked, “there’s a song in there somewhere.”
Below, Us Weekly breaks down the five guys’ solo careers by the numbers:
