One Direction - One Direction: The Official Annual 2015

One Direction are the biggest and most loved boy band the world has ever known. Theyve taken the whole planet by storm. In four short years theyve achieved the kind of success that other bands can only dream of. With the eyes of the globe upon them, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik have gone from young boys next door to fully fledged rock stars. The boys just keep on reaching for greater heights, constantly pushing themselves to keep on achieving. The band have produced hit after amazing hit, securing some of the worlds biggest-selling releases of the past four years.

One Direction mania is everywhere and its only going to get crazier. Right now the boys are having the time of their lives and show no sign of slowing down. Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn are living the pop dream and they dont ever want to wake up. Despite their huge success, the boys still have their feet firmly on the ground and will never forget where they came from or the fans who got them there. Niall summed it up for the whole band: One Direction fans are just so solid, he says. Our fans have put us where we are and its amazing.

One Direction are the biggest band in the world right now. As well as selling out stadium gigs across the globe in seconds, theyve become stars of the big screen in their own movie, This Is Us, and have continued to release chart-topping singles and record-breaking albums not to mention clocking up billions of YouTube views for their award-winning videos.

With the release of Midnight Memories, all three of One Directions albums have rocketed to the top of the charts across the world. But while their fame seems to have come so quickly, theyve put an incredible amount of work into their success. Always touring, performing or recording, its no wonder theyve been entered into Guinness World Records and have won every award from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice to numerous BRIT awards.

Other bands at this point might start to relax and take their feet off the pedal a little, but not One Direction. So many amazing things have happened to them, but theyre still hungry for more. They know that only hard work will keep them at the top. Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn are determined to keep on developing as artists and to give their careers and their fans everything theyve got.

Its been pretty amazing. Im just really glad that Ive been able to do what I love, says Zayn.

Louis agrees: More has happened to us than we could ever have imagined. We owe it all to our fans. Theyre incredible and theyve got us this far.

It may have helped that One Direction came armed with some of the most fantastic pop songs ever written, but what their fans the world over really love is who they are. Theyre the kind of boys you can imagine hanging out with the boys who everyone wants to be friends with. All five of them are genuine, down-to-earth lads who happen to be incredibly talented. Put this together with the drive and amazing strength of character theyve shown in their careers so far, and theres no doubt that the skys still the limit for One Direction.

EVEN POP STARS NEED SOME DOWNTIME

Fame has come quickly to One Direction, but theyve taken to it like naturals. Perhaps the most surprising thing about their success is that theres been no change in them. Theyre still the same fun-loving boys theyve always been; stardom hasnt gone to their heads at all.

Life in the spotlight is exciting, but its also incredibly tough. During tours, the boys have been known to max two hours sleep a night. Life as a celebrity can become overwhelming and its sometimes hard to hang on to yourself. But despite their huge success, Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn have all remained remarkably normal. Theyre all incredibly close to their families and they still have their oldest friends with them all the way.

My mates dont treat me any differently, says Niall. They havent changed a bit, and neither have I.

In spite of all the perks of being a celebrity, Harry, Liam, Louis, Niall and Zayn still enjoy the same things other lads their age do. They love the moments when, for a brief time at least, they are out of the spotlight and can still do ordinary things. They love going to the cinema to catch a funny movie, just hanging out with their friends, watching DVDs or TV, or just catching up. But a lot more planning goes into doing the ordinary stuff these days as everywhere the One Direction boys go, pandemonium follows.

You have to go about it the right way, Niall says. Obviously its not just a case of Oh, Im gonna go to this place for lunch. You can do all the regular things you just have to think about it a bit.

Each band member has their own interests that keep them busy. Harry loves art and fashion, and is regularly photographed on the front row at fashion shows. Louis loves football, Zayn loves drawing, Liam boxing and, as everyone knows, Niall really, really loves to eat. I like anything edible, he jokes.

But no matter what they do or where they are theyre always in touch with each other, and they cant wait to get back together and start working again. Were really close as a band, says Niall. Its lovely to have time off, but its always great to be back together.

NAME: Harry Edward Styles

BORN: 1 February 1994 Redditch, Worcestershire, England

STAR SIGN: Aquarius

NICKNAME: H/Hazza

HEIGHT: 5 feet 10 inches

SIBLINGS: Gemma

LIKES: Tacos, Adele, Man United

DISLIKES: Olives, swearing, being rude to people

TWITTER: @Harry_Styles

DID YOU KNOW? Harry has dozens of tattoos all over his body. They include his sisters name, a pirate ship, two sparrows, an Iced Gem and a coat hanger.

NAME: Niall James Horan

BORN: 13 September 1993 Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland

STAR SIGN: Virgo

NICKNAME: Nialler

HEIGHT: 5 feet 7 inches

SIBLINGS: Greg

LIKES: Michael Bubl, giraffes

DISLIKES: Being hungry, dodgy chat-up lines, clowns