Niall Horan is best known as one of the members of the One Direction youth group. After the breakup of the group, the young singer and composer managed to prove his worth as a solo artist, selling millions of copies of his solo music album worldwide and touring the world with success.
Biography. School years.
Niall Horan was born on September 13, 1993 in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. His parents, Bobby and Maura Horan, divorced when he was still a child. Together with his brother Greg, he moved from house to house, living either with his mother or with his father, until he finally settled in his father's house.
Niall was educated in Mullingar. There he first appeared on the stage as part of the choir and played in school theater productions. In addition, he attended Colaiste Mhuire High School (St. Mary's College), where his creative abilities were also noticed.
Participation in "The X Factor".
In 2010, when Niall turned 16, he applied to participate in the popular television program The X Factor. After preliminary auditions, he was finally invited to Dublin, where before the judges Simon Cowell and Katy Perry, he performed the composition of the American singer Ne-Yo "So Sick". Despite the fact that Katy Perry stated that he “needs to grow up, " he was allowed to the final audition.
Horan was not successful in the competition as a solo vocalist and was eliminated in the semifinals. Fortunately, on the advice of invited guest Nicole Scherzinger, they decided to give him a second chance as part of the new One Direction band, which included four more members.
Career at One Direction.
The group was unable to take the main prize, coming in third in the finals. However, Simon Cowell discerned the potential of young musicians and signed a contract with them.
The debut album "Up All Night" immediately topped the line of British and American music charts. One Direction became the first group whose debut album reached the top lines of the charts. However, despite the fact that Niall wrote several songs that were included in the album, he, together with Louis Tomlinson, remained in the background of the group, acting as backing vocals.
Over the next few years, the group regularly delighted fans with new albums, releasing one each year. Large-scale concert tours were held in support of each of the albums, the group released several fragrances, books and even shot the film "This Is Us". However, in March 2015, it became clear that participants could not live on at such a frantic pace. On March 25, Zane Malik left the group. To thwart rumors of breakup, the band released a new album, "Made in the AM". Immediately after this was followed by an official statement on a break in the work of the group.
In January 2016, US Weekly wrote that, in fact, “One Direction” had ceased to exist, since the participants' contracts with the record label were not renewed. And in fact, each of them took up his personal career. While Harry Styles signed a solo contract with Columbia, Liam also began a solo career with the Capitol label, Louis decided to take a break to focus on his family, no one knew what Niall had in his plans.
Solo work.
In September 2016, the recording studio Capital records announced the start of cooperation with Niall Horan. Following this, Niall released his debut solo single "This Town", which revealed his talent as a vocalist and a talented composer. In support of the single, Horan also released an acoustic version of the song. The song took the 20th line on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
In May, a new single, "Slow Hands", was released, in which Horan paid tribute to his beloved classic rock of the 70s - 80s. Niall also recorded this song later in the acoustic version.
On September 15, the third single “Too Much To Ask” followed, and in September an official video was released.
In October 2017, Niall Horan's debut solo album "Flicker" was finally presented. The album contained 10 tracks in the standard version and an additional 3 bonus songs in the deluxe version. It immediately became number one on the Billboard 200. In the first week of official sales, 152, 000 copies were sold. The album took the first lines in Canada, the USA, Mexico and Ireland, and also took leading positions in iTunes in 60 countries. The number of copies sold worldwide reached 2.2 million copies.
Also in 2017, Niall Horan received the award as Best New Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards.
In 2018, the Flicker World Tour was launched in support of the album of the same name.
On March 5, 2018, the single "On the loose" was announced, a month later the official music video was filmed. The single "Finally free" was released on July 6th.
Personal life and family.
Despite the fact that the famous singer cannot avoid the close attention of journalists, however, not much is known about his personal life. At one time, his name was associated with the popular singer Demi Lovato, then there were rumors that Niall Horan had an affair with Victoria Secret model Jessica Serfati.
In 2018, paparazzi increasingly began to notice Niall along with actress Haley Steinfield. The pair was first noticed in December 2017, and although none of them confirmed or refuted the rumors about the novel, the kissing couple quite often fell into the camera lens.
