2010-11: formation and the X Factor
In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry styles and Louis Tomlinson came in the seventh season of "The X Factor" individually, claiming a hit in the solo category. After a suggestion from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger they were United, thus once in the category "Groups". Subsequently, the group worked together for two weeks to get to know each other better and practice. Harry styles decided to call the band One Direction because he thought that the name will sound good at a performance. For his first qualifying performance in "house of judges", the band performed an acoustic version of "Torn"[5]. In speeches, they chose songs by artists such as Pink, Coldplay, The Beatles, Elton John, Kelly Clarkson, Snow Patrol, Kim Wilde, Rihanna and other.

After they are eliminated from the competition within four weeks of such bands as F. Y. D., Diva Fever, Belle Amie and One Direction were the last pupils of Simon Cowell in the project. They finished third, behind only Rebecca Ferguson, runner-up, and the winner of the season Matt Cardle. Immediately after the finale of a cover of the song "Forever Young", which was supposed to be issued in case of a victory group in the competition, was leaked to the Internet. Then it became known that One Direction signed a contract with the record company Simon Cole's Syco Records.

Recording their debut album began in January 2011 as soon as the band flew to Los Angeles to work with producer RedOne. In February, One Direction and nine other contestants on the show "The X Factor" went to a concert tour. Only in the UK, their concerts were attended by 500,000 people. After the tour, in April, the band continued work on their debut album. Studio recordings of the group took place in Sweden, great Britain and the United States. One Direction worked with producers such as Carl Falk[en], Sevan Kotecha[en], Steve Mac[en], Raimi Jakub[en] and others[6][7].

2011-12: Up All Night and international recognition
One Direction debuted with the single "What Makes You Beautiful" in September 2011[8], which took first place in the UK Singles Chart and became the most predzakaznoy single in the history of the company Sony Music Entertainment[9]. For two months the video for the song has garnered over 24 million views on YouTube. For the first week, sold more than 153 thousand disks with the debut single. The video for the second single "Gotta Be You" in two weeks I gained over 6 million views on YouTube. During the month the number of copies sold amounted to more than 88 thousand. Subsequent singles "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing" reached the top ten in the UK singles chart.

In November 2011, the group signed a record deal with Columbia Records in North America[10]. Steve Barnett[en], co-Chairman of Columbia Records said that it was a very difficult decision to sign One Direction because of their youth and inexperience. "What Makes You Beautiful" was released in the U.S. in February 2012, debuting at the twenty-eighth position on the Billboard Hot 100, and then reaching the fourth position. As of may 2012 in the United States sold more than 2 million copies of the single "What Makes You Beautiful"[11].


One Direction perform in Sydney as part of a tour Up All Night Tour in April 2012.
The release of the first album called "Up All Night" took place on 21 November 2011. The album topped the charts in sixteen countries. He took second place in the UK charts, sold 138 631 copies, the album became the fastest-selling debut album in the album chart UK 2011. In the US, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, making One Direction the first band in UK history, which could become number one in the US with their debut album. As of 13 may 2012 608 sold 382 copies of "Up All Night" in the UK, and on July 1, 2012 899 000 copies in the US. As of June 2012 sold more than 2.7 million copies worldwide. After a crazy popularity and the success of One Direction named the band that revived the term "boy band" and won the US and the UK.

In December 2011 One Direction embarked on their first headlining UK tour, the Up All Night Tour. In early 2012, in connection with the international popularity, was also scheduled Australian and North American concert tour from April to July 2012. Tickets for all 62 of the concert were sold out completely.

The band released a recording of one of the concerts on DVD. Release "Up All Night: The Live Tour" was held in may 2012, the DVD topped the charts in twenty five countries around the world. In the US, it debuted at number one on "Billboard's" DVD, with sales of 76,000 copies. In Australia, the DVD became six times platinum, sold 90 000 copies in its first week.

One Direction has released two of his own books under the title "Forever Young" and "Dare to Dream". The book "Forever Young" tells the story of the boys on the project "The X Factor" and released 17 Feb 2011. The book took first place in the bestseller list of the Sunday Times. In turn, the book Dare to Dream, about the life after the project, released 15 September 2011.

21 February 2012 One Direction attended the 2012 Brit Awards at which "What Makes You Beautiful" won the award for "Best British single". In the same year at the Teen Choice Awards, the band won in the categories: Summer Music Star Group, Choice Music Breakout Group, Choice Love Song.

In may 2012, One Direction began recording their second Studio album in Stockholm, Sweden. In April 2012, the band stated that they would like to contribute more to the songwriting for the second album.

2012-13: Take Me Home and world tour
In may 2012, One Direction began recording a new Studio album Take Me Home in Stockholm[12]. In April 2012, the newspaper The Independent reported that Cowell has decided to record the second album of the internationally successful group, after the success of their debut album.

Harry styles in an interview said "We are always in the process of writing songs: the way we, hotel or airport. We don't want our music to sound like it was written by a man of forty in his office"[13]. The release of the album Take Me Home on November 12, 2012[14]. The single "Live While We're Young", representing a new album, has achieved worldwide success, having taken the first places in the charts in Ireland and New Zealand and reaching the Top-10 in each country, which was presented[15][16]. Sales in the first day of release amounted to more than 314 000 copies, resulting in the single noted as the fastest selling single by a British group and took third place by number of downloads among the musical groups[17][18].

One Direction will be performing in new York at Madison Square Garden on 3 December 2012. The group also planned a new concert tour in February 2013[19]. The concert tour consisted of 101 performances in the UK, Ireland, North America and Australia. In the UK and Ireland on the first day of ticket sales sold more than 300,000 units. In North America the group had to increase the number of concerts due to "huge demand"[20] In Australia and New Zealand sold tickets worth more than 15.7 million dollars, all of 190.000 tickets for the 18 concerts were sold[21].

2013-14: Midnight Memories and This we
August 30, 2013, the premiere of the documentary film "One Direction: This is us", which was released by the production company, TriStar Pictures. The Director of the movie was Morgan Spurlock. In the role of was produced Spurlock, Ben Winston, Adam Milano and Simon Cowell[22]. The main soundtrack was the song "Best Song Ever", released on 22 July 2013 as the lead single from upcoming third album "Midnight Memories"[23][24]. The film was commercially successful, becoming the highest grossing in the UK and the USA, as well as gathering around the world more than $ 60 million. "One Direction: This is us" became the fourth highest-grossing concert films[25]. May 16, 2013 the band announced their first stadium tour "Where We Are Tour", which began in April 2014. 30 may 2013 it was announced that the group collaboration with Office Depot to create a collection of school supplies. Also, it was confirmed that part of the proceeds from the sale of these products will be aimed at implementation of programs to combat bullying in schools[26].

Nov 23, 2013 in support of "Midnight Memories" group organized a "1D Day",[27] dedicated to their fans. Stream "1D Day" lasted 7.5 hours using the service on YouTube. During the broadcast, the band performed a few songs. Also aired were invited such stars as Simon Cowell, Cindy Crawford, piers Morgan, Jerry Springer and others. The event was unique not only because of the duration, but also because of the unprecedented use of social networks in which fans could take part in the event, interacting with a group using Google+ Hangout.

25 Nov 2013 the release of the album "Midnight Memories", which debuted with the first line of the British and American charts. Thus, One Direction became the first group in history whose first three albums debuted first on the Billboard 200[28]. The album was described by the band as sharp and "with a more rock sound" than their previous works[29]. The second single from the album was the song "Story of My Life", the announcement of which was made with the help of the social media posts of childhood photos of the participants in One Direction[30][31]. To promote the album, the band performed at the British and American The X Factor[32 ]                                                                                                                                                                                                                        #one direction #Liam Payne Niall Horan #Louis William Tomlinson Harry Styles #Zayn Malik