In 2010, five young men auditioned forThe X Factor UK.While they could not make it past the boot camp stage as solo artists, judge Simon Cowell saw something in each of them, and compelled them to compete together as a group if they wanted to move on.Thus,One Directionwas born.
Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinsonwere Cowell’s proteges onX Factor, and though they didn’t win the show, they won something much greater: a massively successful career with five albums to show for it, all of which went multi-platinum. One Direction took the world, and teenage girls across the globe, by storm.
In the 2010s, there were Big Time Rush, andthe Jonas Brothers, but One Direction was the firstboy bandof the decade to even come close to artists like *NSYNC or The Backstreet Boys. Their discography was absolutely riddled with hits, butthese ten in particular were crucial in propelling their truly remarkable career.
10What Makes You Beautiful
Up All Night (2011)
In 2011, just over a year after One Direction formed onX Factor, they came out with their debut single, “What Makes You Beautiful.” Suffice it to say,no single by a boy band has ever taken the world by storm in quite the same way as One Direction’s first original song did.
With over a year’s worth of anticipation,it makes sense that the track immediately skyrocketed to the number one spot in the UK Singles Chart.Surprisingly, the single peaked at just number four on the US Billboard Hot 100, but the fact that a top five peak is surprising truly speaks to One Direction’s capabilities from the very beginning.
Their debut single set One Direction on a warpath, and it was all uphill from there.
The introductory guitar riff became immediately recognizable over the course of what felt like a day,though those of us who were knee-deep in One Direction Tumblr fandom knew the song like the back of our hands by the time it was actually released. Their debut single set One Direction on a warpath, and it was all uphill from there.
9One Thing
“One Thing” was the first single from One Direction’s debut album to be released after the album was released. The album’s success was widespread throughout the US, reaching number one on the Billboard 200 chart despite a lesser performance from the singles individually; “One Thing” peaked at number 39 in the US and number nine in the UK.
This was the band’s second song to play on the radio in the US. I remember my digital clock radio going off at 6am before school, and going absolutely nuts the first time I heard “One Thing.” “What Makes You Beautiful” had become a radio regular, but"One Thing" meant that the band was getting even more successful.
During the bridge, when the five boys are singing"Na, na, na,“there is a specific clapping pattern which, as a teenager at a school-sanctioned party, was the most incredible, interactive element of any middle-school-appropriate song.To clap on the beat meant you were a true Directioner,but if you didn’t know the pattern, that made you a fake fan.
8Live While We’re Young
Take Me Home (2012)
About a month and a half before its release,One Direction gave fans a taste of their highly-anticipated sophomore album,Take Me Home, with “Live While We’re Young.“Released alongside a music video featuring the band carefree on a camping trip, the single peaked at number three on both the US Billboard Hot 100 and the UK Singles charts.
Though the boys of One Direction were all between the ages of 18 and 21 in 2012, their fans were mostly younger teenagers. The lyrics to “Live While We’re Young” included some vague sexual innuendos, resulting in criticism. What’s more, the introductory guitar riff bore a resemblance to The Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go,” causing further criticism.
Despite the criticism, One Direction fans, old and new, still embraced this song,learning the words over the course of just a few hours, sexual innuendos and all. It was the perfect teaser to ramp up anticipation for the rest of the album, which, of course, peaked at number one in both the US and the UK.
7Little Things
Released as a single just three days after the album was released,“Little Things” was a beautiful, heartfelt ballad, with lyrics that touched on topics of insecurity—a theme that resonated ever so deeply with One Direction’s teenage fan-base. Being an insecure teenager myself when this song was released, this song spoke to my very soul.
A love song at its core, “Little Things” is the kind of song that made fans fall in love with One Direction all over again.
“Little Things” was written for One Direction by fellow 2010s sensation Ed Sheeran,whose own music was familiar to 1D fans, but whose reach as an artist was a bit broader than the boy band’s. A love song at its core, “Little Things” is the kind of song that made fans fall in love with One Direction all over again.
The single reached the number one spot in the UK, but didn’t perform nearly as well in the US, peaking at number 33. Despite its performance on the charts, however,the acoustic guitar that was the backbone of this song gave it a certain maturity,marking the beginning of an upward trend in the band’s music.
6Best Song Ever
Midnight Memories (2013)
“Best Song Ever” was the lead single from One Direction’s third studio album,Midnight Memories, and while it remained stuck at number two on the US and UK charts, the song still made waves, just as all the other lead singles from a One Direction album did.Given the title, it’s clear the band had high hopes for this song.
“Best Song Ever” is another high-energy songthat had kids jumping around, shouting the lyrics at the top of their lungs, at middle and high school dances.The chorus,“And we danced all night / To the best song ever,“is as upbeat, carefree, and exciting as they come, especially to such a youthful audience.
The music video for this song was equally iconic, and featured the five members of the band dressed up in alter egos at a movie production company in Hollywood, talking with themselves about producing a One Direction film. The video oozes fun and goofiness, just like the song, andreally captures the essence of what One Direction was all about.
5Story of My Life
The next single fromMidnight Memorieswas “Story of My Life,” a slower indie track with elements of folk. The song begins with the line,“Written on these walls are the stories that I can’t explain,“which hits hard and fast,in stark contrast to the lighthearted songs about young love and lust that One Direction fans were used to.
“Story of My Life” peaked at number two on the UK Singles chart, but failed to break into the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number six.True fans, however, fell in love with the track immediately,relishing the fact that all five members had a hand in writing it and feeling their emotion in every word.
This song marked another step towards maturity for the band,the lyrics reminiscing about what it means to grow up. Though they were still young at the time of its release, it seems One Direction was pushing back on what the world expected of them, and they wanted to explore themes in their music that felt older.
4Steal My Girl
FOUR (2014)
Keeping with the theme of growing up, “Steal My Girl,” though not necessarily in the lyrics,certainly took a huge leap forward with regard to the maturation of One Direction’s sound.The song feels more composed, less produced, and more fully realized as their identity as a band began to move out of the teenage sphere.
The piano introduction instantly gives the song a more classic rock sort of feel,making a statement as the lead single from One Direction’s fourth album, aptly titledFOUR.“Steal My Girl” was actually the lowest-charting lead single of all of One Direction’s albums, at least in the US, peaking at number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Where their first three albums had a ceiling with regard to variety in their sound, “Steal My Girl” created a new excitement around what the rest of their fourth album may have in store.
The music video bears a resemblance to that of their very first single, “What Makes You Beautiful,“bringing this new stage of their career full circle.Where their first three albums had a ceiling with regard to variety in their sound, “Steal My Girl” created a new excitement around what the rest of their fourth album may have in store.
3Night Changes
“Night Changes” was the first markedly slow One Direction song that I remember hearing on the radio as often as I did. Where songs like “One Thing” and “Best Song Ever” were commonplace on radio stations,“Night Changes” slowed things down in a way one may not have expected to play so often on a pop music radio station.
Released just three days before the rest of the album, “Night Changes” only added to the idea that fans could expect a much different, ultimately, more mature sound fromFOUR.In a song about love, a theme they were far from strangers to,the effect of all five band members' vocals felt more serious than their prior love songs.
Throughout the band’s discography, there were often songs whose sound resonated more deeply with the vocal quality of one member of the band than another, and “Night Changes” was certainly a Zayn Malik-centered song. As such,this was the last major One Direction hit dominated by Malik before he left the band in 2015.
2Drag Me Down
Made In The A.M. (2015)
“Drag Me Down” was One Direction’s first single without Zayn Malik, andhis absence can be felt at any given moment throughout the song.It was also the lead single from the band’s fifth and final album,Made in the A.M., their only album not to reach the number one spot on the Billboard 200.
The song peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, and number one on the UK Singles chart, and saw airtime on multiple radio stations, multiple times a day. That said,this song felt like a step backwards for One Direction,like an overproduced pop song, created to please the masses and perhaps rope in some new, younger fans.
Despite its regressive nature,“Drag Me Down” is still an incredibly catchy, fun, and classic One Direction song.If the goal was a pop song to bring in a new generation of younger One Direction fans, now that many of their original fans had gotten older, some of them even going off to college by 2015, then they definitely succeeded.
1Perfect
“Perfect” was the second single released from One Direction’s fifth and final album before they announced they were going on hiatus—a hiatus turned to a definite end when Liam Payne tragically passed away at age 31. It also gave original One Direction fans some reassurance after “Drag Me Down,” that they were still focused on their newer, more mature sound.
The song was rumored to have been a response to Taylor Swift’s “Style,“after she and Harry Styles had broken up. The rumors spawned heavily from the bridge, in which Styles sings,“And if you like cameras flashing every time we go out / And if you’re looking for someone to write your breakup songs about.”
“Perfect” reached the number two spot on the UK Singles Chart, and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100, their last single to reach the top ten in the US. Though the entire album felt a bit off without Zayn Malik,“Perfect” still feels complete, and was a great way to balance out “Drag Me Down” before the album’s release.
