It’s Been Ten Years Since One Direction Formed and I’m Feeling Sentimental (Alternatively Titled: A Thank You To My Boys)

Posted On July 23, 2020

Samantha Colleran, July 2020

One of the first things people told me when I started this blog was to not talk a lot about One Direction (band or solo) because it would sound like it was a fan account. Did I listen? Absolutely not. They’re the most important band in my life, so I’m obviously going to talk about them and their influences on me! Today marks ten years since Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne were all put into a band that the world came to know as One Direction, and well over nine years since I became a fan. I wanted to take some time to reflect on how they’ve impacted me over the years, and I hope you’ll give me some of your time whether you’re a fan and can completely understand everything I’m about to say, or you’re a reader of my blog who keeps updated on my posts and don’t really care about One Direction. 

The boys (as I so casually call them) started off as solo artists on The X Factor UK and were all voted off the show, but were saved when the judges at the time (Nicole Scherzinger, Simon Cowell, and Louis Walsh) put them together in a group. They placed 3rd on the final show, and signed a deal with Syco Entertainment and Modest Management, not knowing what fate had in store for them. 

The band released their first single “What Makes You Beautiful” in September 2011, and it blew up the charts. Their debut album, Up All Night, was released in November of the same year and they became a worldwide sensation. They went on to make a total of five albums in five years and went on four tours that grossed hundreds of millions of dollars, two of which were arena tours and one they finished even after Zayn left in 2015. They released two movies, four perfumes, did one 8-hour live stream to support their album Midnight Memories, took the world completely by storm with every album release they’ve had, and so much more. The band won over 200 awards in the time they were performing as a group, and they have all gone on to have successful solo careers. 

One Direction fans, or Directioners, worked tirelessly to vote in fan voted award categories. They organized fan projects for venues made up of tens of thousands of people (see this amazing fan project in San Siro which was featured in their Where We Are movie) and projects to get non-single songs recognized and even win awards (Project No Control and Project Home). The fandom broke Vevo records, crashed websites regularly due to so much traffic, and are still active today on all social media platforms. They continue to support and keep One Direction winning fan voted categories and make sure all five of the boys are getting attention and recognition in their solo endeavors. They trend random hashtags and phrases when they’re bored simply because they can, and they’re an all around powerful force to be reckoned with. One Direction and their fans have a pretty unique bond, and it’s something I’m proud to play a small part in.

One Direction didn’t write all of their own music at first, but once they were granted the freedom to write more of their own music, most notably on their third studio album Midnight Memories, their music flourished and their sound became more mature. They cited bands like Fleetwood Mac and Kings of Leon as inspirations (seriously, their song “What A Feeling” could easily be mistaken for a Stevie Nicks penned track). Louis and Liam became the ultimate songwriting duo in the band and curated some of their greatest songs (not to take away from the other members, but Payne-Tomlinson is an unmatched songwriting force and they deserve way more credit for their work). Their sound became more serious in the eyes of the music business, they essentially evolved from a boy band to a man band, from bubblegum pop to sophisticated pop rock influences (If you don’t believe me about their songwriting abilities and influences, maybe you’ll listen to a Rolling Stone writer?) They were still the One Direction I loved dearly, that’s something that hasn’t changed, and quite frankly it’s something I don’t ever see changing. 

I didn’t get it at first when I heard “What Makes You Beautiful” back in 2011, I thought it was a good song and didn’t think much about actually calling myself a fan of One Direction until I heard “One Thing”, then I was completely hooked. Little ten year old Sam didn’t know it then, but One Direction would lead her to so many opportunities. Sure, they started off as a poppy band who were formed on a TV show (which there is nothing wrong with, by the way), but it was so much more than that. Listening to Up All Night and Take Me Home brought me joy I couldn’t process fully, let alone put into words to explain to the people around me. 

Christmas of 2012 I got my first pair of tickets to see One Direction for their 2013 Take Me Home Tour. It was just a few short months after Hurricane Sandy had destroyed my entire community, and my parents wanted to make Christmas special. Realizing the two pieces of paper in the envelope I tore open were actually concert tickets, my immediate reaction was to start crying. You’re probably rolling your eyes, but this band meant so much to me that the only possible reaction I was capable of in that moment of realizing I would be in a stadium hearing their songs live and seeing them in person was to burst into tears of joy. People who are close to me often joke that I don’t show emotion in ‘normal’ ways, so when the gift of concert tickets made me bawl my eyes out on Christmas Day, it was a pretty huge deal and I don’t think anyone in my house was expecting me to react the way I did. 

I saw them for the first time on June 28, 2013. It felt unreal, I couldn’t believe I was actually seeing the band who brought me so much happiness, who had given me something to look forward to during the trying months that my family and I were experiencing after  Hurricane Sandy. The concert was amazing; shockingly I held it together until a few songs in, and then it hit me that I was actually seeing them, so of course I cried. They sounded incredible, their banter with the crowd made me laugh (fans reading along will laugh when I say one name- Ishmael!), and they were even more wonderful than I could have ever hoped for.

I saw them two more times after that first show, both at sold out MetLife Stadium shows; once for their Where We Are (WWA) Tour on August 4, 2014, and one final time for their On The Road Again (OTRA) Tour just over a year later on August 5, 2015, a few months after Zayn had left. Having those concerts to look forward to gave me motivation to get through long school years. Once they were over, I had some of the best memories to look back on; I was fortunate enough to see them and experience the songs that made me so happy in person, and that’s something I’m grateful for every single day. I can still remember the tour introduction video to the shows five and six years later; whenever I hear the music from the intros I’m immediately brought back to MetLife and the memories come flooding through my mind as if these shows happened yesterday. OTRA holds such an important place in my heart; it was the closest I had been to them since becoming a fan (three rows back in the 100 levels of MetLife, whoo hoo!) and they performed songs from my favorite album, Four, as well as their new single at the time ‘Drag Me Down’. 

During the times of looking forward to concerts and watching live performances, I had also become invested in how their management had been dealing with them. I don’t want to get too into it because I’ve heard horror stories of people who post extensively about One Direction’s management having their accounts locked and I don’t want to lose this blog, so I’ll leave it up to you to research if you want more information. Needless to say, I became very interested in their tactics and promotional methods. Learning about how they were marketed and promoted made me realize that the music industry can be a rough place, and I wanted to make a change for young artists who are just starting out and don’t know much about the industry. From then on, my thirteen year old self decided that somehow, some way, I would become involved in the music industry. When the search to find a college began, I learned that you can actually get a degree in Music Business without having to play an instrument or sing! That was news to me, and once I learned that it was possible to get my foot in the door, I knew I would make it my mission to get involved and make a change, which led me to choose the college I’m currently studying at, SUNY Oneonta. Even though my freshman experience wasn’t a ‘proper’ one because of the coronavirus outbreak, Oneonta worked hard to provide the Music Industry students with some pretty cool opportunities during these strange times, and it’s something I’m truly grateful for. I would never have found my way there without being a fan of One Direction.  

The boys’ final show of OTRA was on Halloween of 2015, so of course being the dedicated fan I am, I stayed home and watched low quality live streams and videos posted anywhere I could find them. I watched as they sang their song ‘Act My Age’ over and over again because they didn’t want the show to end. When the night eventually (and unfortunately) came to an end and all four boys along with their touring band hugged each other one final time for tour, it hit me then that soon I would have to say goodbye to my band for a while. Their final album Made In The A.M. was released a few short weeks after that.When I quickly realized there wouldn’t be a tour to accompany this release I felt like something was missing. 

The band’s performance on The X Factor before the hiatus began was one of the hardest performances to watch. I sat in my room with teary eyes and watched as the boys took their final bows after singing ‘History’, their little ode to their time as a band and to us, the fans. They stood on the stage they started on and everyone watching realized that it was their final performance together after five years of being a band, and the realization was one I never wanted to come to. Don’t get me wrong, I really love all of their solo music and am so glad they had the opportunity to break out on their own and have the ability to find their own sounds, but seeing the band that had held such a constant, important place in my life for over four years come to a pause is something that made me emotional. 

Although heartbreaking in the moment, that final performance is something I look back on and feel proud to have witnessed. One Direction dominated the music world (whether they were given the proper credit or not is another argument) and changed the lives of millions, it’s something I can’t fully process. I don’t know if they realize the impact they’ve had on the world. Nothing will ever be as powerful or as impactful as One Direction is and was, I’m proud to call them ‘my band’ and say that I witnessed them grow into the incredible musicians and people they are today. 

Sitting down to actually write this was something that was extremely challenging for me to do even though I love this band with everything in me and could talk extensively about them. How do you wrap up ten years of a band’s career and over nine years of you loving them into a simple blog post when there’s so many things to be said? I started writing this in April to get some thoughts and ideas down, and I’m sure by the time this is published on their anniversary I will have made a million edits to it, never being completely satisfied with what I’ve said or how I said it. One thing I can say is that it seems like I wrote a lot, but it feels so impossible to wrap up every single memory and thought into a few paragraphs, but I truly hope I did it justice. 

One Direction has been a part of my life longer than it hasn’t, and I truly don’t have any other words to sum up what they mean to me except “Thank you”. Thank you for the memories, the tears, the laughs, the surprise single and music video drops, the beautiful lyrics and amazing songs (they wrote my all time favorite song, the previously mentioned “Home”), the wonderful albums that have gotten me through and continue to get me through so much, the best live performances I’ve ever had the pleasure of witnessing, opening me up to a career path that I would never have known about, giving me things to look forward to and be happy about always, teaching me things about myself that I would not have known if I wasn’t a fan, the fandom drama, and so much more. Thank you for absolutely everything. This band and the experiences I’ve had as a fan have shaped me into the person I am today and I’m thankful for them forever and always. I know the past five years they haven’t been together, but whenever the boys decide to reunite I’ll be there supporting and cheering them on as if they never left. 

We certainly are the greatest team that the world has ever seen, and I’m forever honored to call myself a Directioner, as cringy as it may sound. I’m truly so proud of everything these boys have achieved and can’t wait to see what the future holds for them. Louis, Harry, Liam, Niall, Zayn, the boys who will forever and always hold a special place in my heart, thank you for being the most wonderful thing to happen to my life and for growing up with me. Happy ten years One Direction, here’s to many, many more! 

For your listening pleasure, I rounded up some of my favorite One Direction songs and put them into a YouTube playlist. Please give it a listen and relive some ‘midnight‘ memories if you’re a fan, and if you’re not a fan here’s an opportunity to give One Direction a chance!