MALIK'S DEPARTURE, MADE IN THE AM AND HIATUS


 

On 25 March 2015, the world shattered to the band’s statement announcing that Zayn Malik if calling it quits with One Direction. The band made their first endorsed public appearance as a four-piece on The Late Late Show with James Corden on 14 May, where they assured that they would continue without a new fifth member. The On the Road Again tour settled on 31 October 2015 after playing eighty shows in Australia, Asia, Africa, Europe, and North America. Making $208 million, over 2.3 million tickets were sold.

On 31 July 2015, the band released a new single "Drag Me Down" without any promotion or announcement. Despite this, it still topped the charts in multiple countries, including France and Australia, making the song their first single to reach number one in those respective countries. It also stretched number one in multiple other countries, including Ireland and the UK, while charting third in the United States. The single was the first single from their fifth studio album, Made In The AM, and the first material released by the band after Malik's departure. Following the release, hearts broke around the world as it was revealed that the group would be going on hiatus in 2016. On 22 September, the title for the fifth studio album, Made in the A.M., was officially announced along with promotional single "Infinity" being released. The group began to reveal the track listing on their Snapchat stories to which it was later confirmed on iTunes. In October, another single, "Perfect", was released. It reached the Billboard top ten, making it the group's second consecutive and fifth overall top ten hit, breaking The Beatles’ ' record for the most top ten Hot 100 debuts among bands.

Made in the A.M. was released on 13 November 2015, frosting the charts in the UK among other countries while reaching number two in the U.S. It was the sixth-best selling album of 2015. At the 2015 American Music Awards on 22 November, One Direction won the award for Artist of the Year for the second year in succession. Louis Tomlinson later established that the break would be around 18 months. On 13 December, One Direction performed on The X Factor final. Their last televised performance as a group, before their hiatus, was on Dick Clark’s New Year Rockin Eve on 31 December 2015.

On 13 January 2016, US Weekly printed a report claiming that the band's hiatus will become a permanent split, with a "source" quoting that each of the four remaining group members did not renew their contracts following the completion of the On The Road Again Tour in October 2015. Representatives for the band denied the report in a declaration to Billboard, stating, "nothing has changed regarding hiatus plans for the group, and all will be revealed in due time from the band members' own mouths."

 By May 2017, all members of the group had released solo singles. Despite saying the hiatus would last 18 months, the band still are yet to settle when they will reform, if they will ever come back. Since then, all band members have followed other projects and have gained massive success in their own fields of music.


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