Which solo direction worked out in the One Direction boys' favor?

Harry Styles has taken the world by storm. He has three Grammy wins, sold out 15 consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden, and of course he has his fabulous suits. But when it comes to passionate fans on YouTube, it's not "As It Was" or "Watermelon Sugar" that has over a billion views. 

That distinction goes to "Dusk Till Dawn" by Styles' former One Direction bandmate, ZAYN. 

Eight years after one of the biggest boy bands in the world went on hiatus, all five of the One Direction boys continue to make music to showcase their individuality. Zayn Malik, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson have all found their own individual lanes. Harry Styles currently holds the title of most popular, however, the other boys have all reached what success means to them. 

One Direction started off as teenagers on the X-Factor and was put together by English TV personality Simon Cowell in 2010. They went on to tour all over the world and gained an enormous fanbase of excited and lovestruck teenagers. The band went their different directions at the end of 2015, shortly after releasing their last album “Made In The A.M.” After five years of growing up together, they have now all found their own road to creativity and success. 

“I was the biggest One Direction fan, but unfortunately I never got the chance to see them,” said Alexis Cooper, a fan of the band. “I listen to some of them more than the others, but it is crazy to see how different they are as solo singers.”

The analysis of the One Direction boy’s careers for this article is taken from YouTube and Billboard as it consists of views, album sales, and hit songs. 

Although Grammy Award winning artist Harry Styles has consistently been the most successful One Direction member with his unique fashion and pop-rock hits like As It Was and Sign Of The Times, former One Direction heartthrob ZAYN’s song “Dusk Till Dawn” featuring Sia currently has the most YouTube views compared to all the solo music videos of the One Direction members. 

In September of 2019, he released his music video for “Dusk Till Dawn” featuring hit artist Sia. The single, which was a part of his second album “Icarus Falls” included ZAYN coming out of his shell as he portrayed a mafia action story along with supermodel, Sofia Jamora. “Dusk Till Dawn” currently has 1.9 billion views and holds the record for highest viewed One Direction solo music video. 

On the other hand, Louis Tomlinson, oldest of the five, may be the most underrated One Direction member as he has struggled with being seen as the most overlooked member and is currently still pushing to make music for his fans. He has come out with two albums in the past eight years with the first album “Walls” being his most successful. 

Tomlinson along with Styles, ZAYN, Horan, and Payne have all had songs make the Billboard Top 100. However, Tomlinson has the least amount of songs on the chart with his two hit singles “Just Hold On” featuring Steve Aoki and “Back To You” featuring Bebe Rexha. The two singles are a part of Tomlinson’s first album as none of the songs from his second album “Faith In The Future” made it on Billboard. 

Harry Styles is taking over the industry with his unique tunes and hyped concerts. “Fine Line” is currently the most sold solo One Direction album with a sale of 10.99 million. Even though Styles’ second album took off exceptionally, ZAYN’s second album, “Icarus Falls” sold the least copies with a sale of only 5,000. 

ZAYN released “Icarus Falls” at the end of 2018 and had worked on the album for over 2 years as it consists of 27 songs. However, the hype from his first album faded as people were more focussed on Styles’ first album “Harry Styles” that came out a year after ZAYN’s debut album. 

Harry Styles may be one of the most popular artists of the decade, however, there were four other boys by his side that helped Styles get to where he is today. Payne, Horan, Tomlinson, and ZAYN took their different directions along with Styles and are making their way to their individual successes and recognition in the industry. 

For more analysis, click here: One Direction's solo album sales and statistics on music videos