All good things come to an end, and for many Directioners out there, this unfortunately applies to the band One Direction’s status as a five-some. Ironically enough, the group’s latest album, released in November 2014, is titled “Four“.
While the remaining members, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson plan to continue touring and releasing new music, Zayn Malik posted his official resignation on the band’s Facebook page Wednesday, claiming his aspirations to finally live the life of “a normal 22 year old”. News of his departure have been trending across social media and breaking the hearts of teen fans ever since.
Zayn Malik
The group immediately became a huge fan favorite after competing in the seventh season of the UK’s The X Factor in 2010, despite landing third place in the singing competition show. Judge and producer Simon Cowell, who claims it was his idea to form the solo singers into a boy band, signed the group to his record label, Syco Records, and the rest is history. In five years, One Direction has won the hearts and affections of millions throughout the globe, sold out tours, and broke the record as Billboard’s only group to debut their first four albums at #1.
Although labeled as the band’s “bad boy” because of his tattoos, darker complexion, and cheating allegations, Zayn is also regarded as the quietest member and the one to struggle the most with fame, so it is no surprise that he is the first one to depart from the band.
The members have all stirred their fair share of controversy, something all too common with stars growing up in the spotlight. Their personal lives are constantly scrutinized, with new stories practically every day about their partying night lives, alleged cheating, and high profile relationships, most notably Harry Styles’ with Taylor Swift. Zayn is engaged to longtime girlfriend, Perrie Edwards of the British girl group The Little Mix, but has been accused of cheating many times. Although he did not address the accusations, the rumors and criticism of his personal life may have added to his stress and driven him to his resignation.
Left to right: Louis, Niall, Zayn, Liam, Harry
Since One Direction’s emergence into the musical sphere, parallels have been made between them and another iconic British boy band: The Beatles. Both exploded with fame across the pond, with hordes of screaming, lovestruck girls everywhere, have made record-breaking history, and their music have evolved as they aged. Both even have trademarked haircuts. Although the dynamics and personalities of the members of both bands differ, if Harry Styles is 1D’s Paul McCartney-esque front runner, Zayn Malik must surely be the alternative, nonconformist John Lennon. So does this automatically make Perrie Edwards the Yoko Ono?
Fans have not hesitated to hash hate towards Perrie on social media, with Yoko comparisons bountiful, blaming her for making Zayn quit the band. Although The Beatles denied Yoko breaking them up, she still holds the reputation as the straw that broke the legendary band’s back.
It seems inevitable that one member of a pop group is always going to drop out first–Ginger Spice, Kevin of the Backstreet Boys, Tom DeLonge of Blink-182. The bright side of the latter two examples is that both groups ended up reuniting and creating music again. But unfortunately, bands never seem to be the same after a hiatus or member switch up.
With Zayn’s departure still extremely recent, only time will tell if he ever does join One Direction again, and how successful the band will be without its fifth half-Pakistani member. As of right now, the remaining boys hold an open invitation for their friend to come back, and promise a fifth album within the next year. Until then, we can only wish the best for Mr. Malik and for all the Directioner’s broken hearts to heal.
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