Niall Horan

Niall James Horan (/ˈnaɪəl ˈhɔːrən/ NY-əl HOR-ən; born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a member of the boy band One Direction, formed in 2010 on the singing competition The X Factor. The group released five albums and went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time.

After the band declared a hiatus in 2016, Horan signed a recording deal as a solo artist with Capitol Records. He has since released three albums: Flicker (2017), Heartbreak Weather (2020), and The Show (2023). Flicker debuted at No. 1 in Ireland and the US, and reached the top three in Australia and the UK. The album's first two singles, "This Town" and "Slow Hands", reached the top 20 in several countries. Heartbreak Weather was released in March 2020, and debuted at No. 1 in the UK, Ireland and Mexico, and at No. 4 in the US.

Horan released his third studio album, The Show, in June 2023, which went to the number one position in seven countries; the album produced two singles: "Heaven" and "Meltdown".

Niall James Horan was born on 13 September 1993 in Mullingar, Westmeath, Ireland. He has an older brother, Greg, who was born in 1987. His parents, Bobby Horan and Maura Gallagher (née Nolan), divorced when he was five years old, so he and his brother lived with their mother for a year. After spending a year apart from their father, they later decided to move in with him. He had asthma as a child.

Greg received a guitar for his 15th birthday which he only used once and then it "sat around for a while" until Horan himself picked it up. Horan, then aged 11, taught himself how to play by following YouTube tutorials. His aunt discovered his singing ability one day when she was in the car with Horan as he started singing, and she had initially thought that the radio was on. As a teenager, he performed at the Mullingar Arts Centre during a fundraiser for the local football team, the Shamrocks. He also bagged a support slot with former X Factor contestant Lloyd Daniels at the Academy club in Dublin.

In 2010, at 16 years old, Horan auditioned for the seventh series of The X Factor in Dublin. He sang "So Sick" and received mixed comments from the judges. Louis Walsh was in his favour, but Cheryl Cole and guest judge Katy Perry felt that he needed some time to grow. Simon Cowell voted to let him through, Cole said no, Walsh said yes, and Perry decided to vote yes. Horan was then put through to bootcamp. At bootcamp, he sang "Champagne Supernova", but failed to qualify for the category. After a suggestion from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, Horan was put in a group with four boys who also failed to move on in the competition, and since they were too good to let go, the judges decided to agree with Scherzinger. Horan along with Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik formed One Direction. Styles came up with the band name, which he thought would sound good when announcer Peter Dickson read their name out on the live shows. Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last contestant in the competition. They became the last contestant eliminated on the show, behind runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.

Following The X Factor, One Direction was signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco record contract. They began recording their debut album in Los Angeles in January 2011. That February, the band and other contestants from the series participated in The X Factor Live Tour. One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", was released in September 2011. The song reached number one in several countries. Subsequent singles, "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing" received success, becoming top ten hits in the UK. In November of that year, the group's debut album Up All Night was released in Ireland and the UK, reaching number one and number two on the charts, respectively. The album was released internationally in March 2012, and One Direction became the first UK group to have their debut album reach number one in the United States. To promote the album, they embarked on their first headlining concert tour, the Up All Night Tour.

In September 2012, the group released "Live While We're Young", the lead single from their upcoming second album, which peaked at number three in the UK and US. The album's second single, "Little Things," spawned the band's second number one single in the UK. In November 2012, Take Me Home, One Direction's second album, was released. It reached number one in over 35 countries, and, after reaching number one on the Billboard 200, the group became the first boy band in US chart history to record two number-one albums in the same calendar year alongside becoming the first group since 2008 to record two number-one albums in the same year. To support the album, they embarked on their second headlining tour, the Take Me Home Tour, playing over 120 shows over four continents. In August 2013, One Direction: This Is Us, a 3-D documentary concert film was released and was a box office success, grossing over $68.5 million.