Louis, Harry, Liam, Zayne, and Niall each auditioned separately for The X Factor when they were just wee ones in 2010. They were all cut from the competition. But soothsayer Simon Cowell, who created and judges the show, saw the future. And the future looked like this: $$$$$. He decided that the five teens could have potential if thrown together as a group.
One Direction’s experience on the show actually resembles the fame and recognition they have now, which is to say they were both a phenomenon and a flop at the same time. Young girls were instantly obsessed, mobbing the X Factor studio each week and tweeting about the group with a rabid intensity that landed them on the front page of the U.K.’s biggest entertainment rags. But the group actually finished third on the show in the public voting, and a distant third at that.
Still the impressive obsession of their fans—dubbed Directioners—was enough to convince some of the world’s best songwriters to pen music for the group’s debut album. The first fruit of that labor, “What Makes You Beautiful,” became the most pre-ordered song ever released by Sony Music. It went to straight to Number 1 in the U.K., and has sold over 5 million copies worldwide.
More popular singles followed—“One Thing” and “Live Like You’re Young” among the best. Then came two albums and massive success, to the tune of 30 million records sold in just over two years. Success to the tune of a massive worldwide tour of 120 venues with an average (sold-out) capacity of 12,500 fans. Success to the tune of becoming, according to Business Insider, the first boyband to be worth $1 billion.
One Direction - Best Song Ever - Live at Teen Choice Awards 2013
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