It just kept getting madder and madder and madder. We had our début single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ played on Radio 1, which was nuts, especially when we heard it played again on our car stereo on the way home from the radio station. I vividly remember sitting in the car just shaking my head, going, ‘That is on Radio 1, lads. Radio 1! This is insane!’ Although that song feels like a million years ago now and its lyrics represent a very different phase of our lives – we were only 17 to 19 years old at that point, remember – I stand by that record; it’s still a very good pop song. Melodically it’s very catchy, and the lyrics seemed to strike a chord with our fans. I think it just felt authentic, not too manufactured, even though we didn’t really have much creative input on the record itself. That isn’t the point – ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ really was the start for us. When it went straight into the charts at Number 1 we knew we were in for a mad ride ahead.
From then on it just took off even more quickly and absolutely massively. Of course, I’d like to think we worked hard and played our part – that exciting first series of PAs and all that early promo didn’t do themselves – but I also have to acknowledge the role of social media in what went on. There’s no doubt that without that our career would be nowhere near where it is now. Social media gave us a massive head start. We get mentioned alongside some pretty amazing names in the music business because of the success we’ve enjoyed, and we’ve worked really hard for that, for sure. At the same time, I can see how much harder it must have been for bands like The Beatles to go out and physically promote themselves by gigging all over the world without people passing on the word through social media.
You clearly have to back up the buzz about the band on social media and we chose to do that by gigging – and gigging hard. You can only get so far with Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and the like. You have to gig, graft and do the interviews too. You’ve got to get people to know you, understand you and like you. And you’ve got to keep the ball rolling, because pop in particular is a very fickle business. There’s always that chance that another boy band is just around the corner, so we all decided to work really hard to make sure we stayed on top. I used to talk with the lads about this when we occasionally had a brief moment to catch our breath. I’d say, ‘We’ve just gotta keep working at it, lads, this is our chance, we have to keep going.’ They all felt exactly the same.
Maybe that’s something we’ve all picked up during our childhoods. I’m not sure we ever thought about it so consciously – we’d been asked to work hard and make something of this band, and we left no stone unturned doing just that. We knew we were incredibly lucky, so we felt we owed it to the process to really go for it. I always thought you can’t just be given this opportunity and not work incredibly hard. It’s such a huge thing and there are so many other people out there who would give it 100 per cent.
For example, we did a fan game called ‘Bring 1D To Me’, which culminated in us visiting four European countries in four days. That’s just nuts, but why wouldn’t you be excited about that? We were all like, ‘Let’s get on with it! Let’s crack on!’ Besides, it didn’t really feel like it was work. Sure, we were putting in some seriously long hours, but at that point all we were essentially doing in promo and interviews was being ourselves, so it wasn’t exactly a chore. A few times on the early press jaunts I could see something going on when we all walked into a room. It was fun, we had a laugh and the press people seemed to enjoy it too. There were several occasions when I sat in interviews listening to the boys crack jokes and bounce off each other, and I could see why people found that endearing and enjoyable. It was clear that we all had our part to play individually, and also that together we were somehow greater than the sum of our parts.
The culmination of all this promo and gigging was when our début album went to Number 2 in the UK and Number 1 in 17 countries. That was just mad. For me, I’d only really thought about how we might do in the UK – my home country, and where I was looking to succeed. Overseas hadn’t really come into my mind, even though we’d done these press trips. Looking back, this was the first time we sensed that something was going on worldwide. It was a major wake-up call, as I suddenly saw that the band’s potential might be off the scale. I, for one, hadn’t even thought about that.
You could say that was naïve, and I wouldn’t argue with you. I think we were all naïve at that stage, to be honest. We were just going with the flow. Someone would say, ‘You’re going to do four European countries in four days,’ and we’d be like, ‘Wey-hey, sounds crazy! Let’s go!’ Then they’d say, ‘Right, the album’s Number 1 all over the place. We need to hit the road,’ and we were like, ‘Great! Where’s the tour bus? Let’s pile in and go again!’ I can see that we had an energy about us that was infectious and certainly pretty lively!
The first tour in the UK was brilliant. It was a clever decision to go with theatres, not arenas. We wanted to experience a relatively normal progression, and we needed to learn. Yes, we’d done the X Factor tour and that had played in some arenas – which had given us a feel for that larger scale – but we were only doing four songs each night then, so now we definitely needed the theatre tour to find our feet and build our confidence. Jumping into arenas would have been stupid. We would have learnt, I guess, but I think a theatre tour first was the perfect way to go about it.
We had such a laugh on that first tour, and every night it got more and more intense. We were constantly saying, ‘The fans are just unreal!’ We’ve been so lucky to have had such an amazing following from day one – and now, all this time later, they’re still with us. Back then, so much was going on every day it would’ve been easy to get overwhelmed, but as I mentioned before, I always try not to think too much about things. I don’t see the point in over-analysing situations.
I’ll tell you what did make a huge difference to my enjoyment of this fantastic time, though – the other four lads. I feel so much less pressure when I have them around to talk to, bounce ideas off and just muck about with. The dynamic in the band seemed to find a level very quickly – we all somehow knew if one of us needed a bit of picking up, or maybe if someone just could do with some space for a while. Looking back, that’s pretty cool because we were only young. Then, as now, I certainly enjoyed having that banter and camaraderie around me. I often wonder how solo artists deal with life on the road. I always say on tour, ‘I’ve no idea how solo artists cope. It’s beyond me!’
If we thought those early days in the UK were crazy, they were really nothing – just the calm before the storm – compared with when it kicked off in the States. We signed the US record deal around the same time as our début single came out in the UK, and we then had to wait till February for our first tour over there, supporting Big Time Rush.
Even though in the UK the band was attracting a lot of attention, our expectations in the US were much more modest. Our social media following was big by this point, but this didn’t necessarily guarantee anything. Or so we thought. There was a lot of discussion before the Big Time Rush tour of managing our expectations, of not getting carried away. Before those first shows in the States we’d had a solid talk from management. They said, ‘Look, it’s not your show. This isn’t the UK. Most of the people will be there for Big Time Rush and they won’t know any of your songs. They might know the singles, but just be prepared for a pretty muted reception. You need to be realistic.’
Well, we went out on stage on the first night as the support band and the place went completely mental. At various points during the show, I’d wander over to each of the lads in turn and say, ‘Can you believe what’s happening here?’ We were all just bewildered. The reception was just ten times better than we could ever have imagined. No, a hundred times better! It was an amazing reaction. It was also a bit awkward because we were on that tour as guests of Big Time Rush – and they were great guys. They worked really hard and were really lovely to all of us, total gentlemen.
After the first couple of nights
went so well, I said to the lads, ‘Maybe every single fan from every corner of the US has somehow managed to get tickets to the first two shows?’ But by the third, fourth, fifth night that this mad crowd reaction was happening, it started to dawn on us that every night was going to be completely bonkers. That’s when I started to get the feeling, Hey, maybe this could work in America too? And there were other signs that something was possibly going on in the States for us. ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ hit the Top 30, which was great, although, to be fair, pop bands can often have a decent single out in the US only to see their album sink without trace. So we enjoyed the reception we were getting but just kept our foot to the floor. We’d say, ‘Work, work, work. Take nothing for granted. Don’t stop.’
The momentum behind One Direction was starting to feel massive. I know I’ve said we were all pretty naïve about the situation, and that’s true, but there were certain pivotal points when it was possible for us to step back and think, This is totally nuts! The performance on the Today show during the week of the début album’s release was one such moment. That was such a massive, televised indication of the buzz surrounding the band. We were starting to think that things were going reasonably well in the States, but then we did that show – and BOOM!
To this day I still think that’s probably one of the best performances we’ve ever done. It was surreal to be in New York, surrounded by this vast sea of faces, all those towering buildings and the total hysteria. It was insane. It was certainly very difficult to take on board what was going on, but I think we did a good job with the actual performance. When that many people come to see the band you just can’t comprehend the scale of the crowd. Before the show, one of the presenters had said something like, ‘We had an inkling that this morning’s concert would be a big draw,’ and he wasn’t wrong! There were thousands and thousands of fans there. You see the first 200 people – and after that it becomes quite hard to even focus on anything else. I like to try to zone in on people as far back as I can see. They’ve made all that effort to come to see you, so I want to try to include everyone in the show. The people right at the back have just as much right to feel involved as the fans up at the front, and if I can do that in some small way I will. At the Today show, those streets of New York were just heaving. It was such a buzz. After we’d left the venue we watched the footage back, and it was only then, I think, that we were fully able to realise the true scale of what we’d just seen. What a day!
When we woke up the next morning we just pushed on again. There was never a sense of holding anything back. We wanted to work, we were hungry for success, and the more they threw at us the more we wanted it. In a way, considering this was relatively early days for the band, we were still quite a unit, and I think our naïvety was a strength.
I suppose the moment when we all had to acknowledge that something big was happening was when the album went to Number 1 in the US charts. Then it was cemented: ‘Right, lads, we’ve done OK in the US’. Initially, we’d chatted about the prospects for the album and had said, ‘A Top Twenty record would be happy days!’ Then we got the pre-orders in, which were pretty huge, so that ramped up expectations, I’m not gonna lie. Then the midweek sales figures came in during the week of release and suddenly I was like, ‘We’re actually in with a chance to get Number 1 here, lads.’ That was like a red rag to a bull for us, so we just upped the workload even more, literally filling every waking second with promo. It was like we were on a mission.
Even so, when we heard we’d got the top spot it was a pretty surreal experience. Then to hear all the crazy history behind what that achievement actually meant really made us sit up and think about what we’d done. I knew about The Beatles, but all those silly comparisons to them still annoy me because they were far too good and far too cool compared to One Direction. I was like, ‘Come on, let’s get realistic!’ Hearing people talk about The Beatles is ridiculous. Of course you can’t compare us to them – on any level, in my opinion. I’ve far too much respect for that band and music history to get carried away with comparisons like that.
Commercially, I could see that we’d achieved something special, though – unique, as it turned out – for a British band. We were only teenagers at the time, remember, and less than two years ago we’d all been standing in a line, queueing for a TV talent show. So when you hear all these statistics about breaking records, it’s like they almost can’t sink in properly. No other UK band had ever débuted at Number 1 in the States. None. So it was quite odd when people were name-checking us in the same breath as all these legendary acts, to be honest.
It’s a weird one, ’cos you feel dead proud – so we should, to be fair – but there’s a feeling of ... I won’t say guilt, because we’d worked very hard. But it was an odd feeling. I don’t know, maybe that sounds too harsh on us. We made that Number 1 happen – we did the graft, we made the record, so we deserved that moment. And let’s face it, that was a big moment. From then on, the rest of the year was a blur. One big, crazy, fantastic blur.
I’m often asked how I processed what was going on at this point. Like I said, we were less than 18 months out of The X Factor, and now thousands of people were screaming at us in a street in New York. I could give you some rubbish about sitting back and reflecting calmly, putting it all in perspective and understanding the context. But the simple, honest answer is that you just go with it. You can’t really comprehend it all. It’s almost like you have got this shield up, and no matter what people tell you and how amazing the events around you are, you’re really just kinda caught up in the bubble. You go with the ride and it’s all you can do to take one day at a time. Literally, that’s what I used to say – ‘OK, let’s do today. Then let’s work through tomorrow. One day at a time.’
With the album at Number 1 in the States, the workload just went through the roof, which was never more apparent than with the North American and Australian tour that year. That was a very tiring two months, but WOW! What an amazing experience. Sure, there were times when one or more of us were tired, missing home or feeling deflated. But that would never last long. The rest of the lads would always be there to pick them up and make them laugh again. We’d become a pretty tight unit by this point. I loved that tour.
That summer we also did the Olympics, which really was a privilege. I mainly remember an overwhelming sense of honour. I always think it’s amazing doing what we do in One Direction, but as a football fan I think pulling on an England shirt to compete for your country must also be incredible. It’s got to be the best feeling, and by singing at the Olympics it almost felt a little bit like we were doing that – representing Great Britain. It was just a real honour.
Like a lot of the band’s big moments, the Olympics closing ceremony just went so quick. We did a soundcheck the day before, then we turned up about lunchtime on the day itself, proper excited. We were just hanging around, and me and Liam were bored so we said, ‘We’re in the Olympic Stadium, so let’s go and have a look around!’ We snuck out and decided to just do weird missions to annoy our tour manager, Paul, who’s a worrier. We took photos of ourselves at all these points around the stadium and backstage area where we shouldn’t have really been, texting him shots of us messing about. We managed to sneak into the water polo without tickets, watched a bit of that, and we even came back with someone else’s clothing, as this woman who worked at Mercedes gave us her hat and jacket. Stupid and immature? Absolutely!
When you’re invited to perform at the Olympics you’re of course aware that someone out there considers you to be a recognised face, or at least a band with a following. That’s undeniable, but I still can’t see how we qualified. I’d never want to be a celebrity. In my eyes, being famous and being a celebrity are two completely different things, and personally I don’t want anything to do with being called a celebrity. You have to have a purpose – you need to be respected for what you do, not what parties you go to. I don’t really meet that many celebrities, funnily enough. And those celeb
rity parties can be so fake. There’s this weird vibe when you go to them where everyone thinks they have to automatically be friends just because they’re all famous. I just cringe at the whole thing. I’ve just tried to remain – we all have – as normal as possible within the confines of doing what I recognise is an unusual job. You cannot let the fame game change you.
Awards ceremonies always give you strange glimpses of this celebrity culture. I never really feel comfortable going to them, to be honest. We’ve been thrown into some pretty high-profile ones, even early on. For example, the first time we went to the VMAs I was like, ‘I’ve never heard of them.’ Nor had Zayn. That seems crazy now, but I’m just being honest. It was another one of those big One Direction moments, in September 2012, when we won three awards. But a lot of the awards nights are just big corporate events full of executives and famous people admiring themselves. There’s not really much conversation, you just kinda glance over to everyone, give the odd nod of recognition. It all just feels quite surreal. We went to one awards ceremony in 2013 and Rihanna was literally right in front of us. We were well impressed! We were like, ‘Hey, look, lads. There’s Rihanna!’ It’s not that we feel we don’t deserve to be there, but we still have that sense of five lads being a little bit out of place, like the new kids at school. Someone said to me that maybe Rihanna was looking over at us lot, but I doubt that!
We did get a few jeers at the early awards ceremonies, but more recently there’s been a sense that we’ve earned people’s respect by the work we’ve put in to achieve our success. I understand that some people don’t like The X Factor, where we started, but I’ll never talk that show down to win doubters round. I love The X Factor and I wouldn’t say a bad word about it. I think it’s a great show and a great platform.