This month signifies the 14th year anniversary of One Direction, from the day our beloved band was formed on July 23, 2010. In honour of this anniversary, we will be revisiting some of the most iconic moments from the band’s time together. There are so many to choose from, but we will narrow it down to 14, 1 moment for each year we have had One Direction.
In no particular order, here we go!
- X-Factor Video Diaries
There is really no better place to start than with the X-Factor Video Diaries the boys did during their X-Factor competition. The Video Diaries show the boys in their ‘fetus’ era as the fans got to know them throughout the course of the competition. The video diaries gave us several quintessential 1D moments and quotes we all love such as ‘I’M SUPERMAN’, ‘and I’d marry you Harry’, Louis going on about girls who eat carrots, and much more. For those feeling nostalgic the video diaries can be watched on the X-Factor’s YouTube channel, starting with Chapter 1.
One Direction: The X Factor Diary | Chapter One | The X Factor UK – YouTube
- What Makes You Beautiful Music Video
This list would not be complete without mentioning the very first music video One Direction created, for their breakout single ‘What Makes You Beautiful’. A beloved song to the fandom for many reasons. The behind-the-scenes music video footage shared Louis being pulled over twice for driving the van too slow, Zayn burying Harry in the sand, and lots of other memorable moments. Let’s also not forget, the set of that music video is where Harry said he first fell in love.
One Direction – What Makes You Beautiful (Official Video) – YouTube
- San Siro Fan Project & Performance
One moment that always comes to mind is the concert at San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy. During the boys’ performance of ‘Right Now’ there was a fan project that took place. For the project, fans held up flags in the colours of the 5 boys’ microphones to spell out ‘We are 1D Family’ across the stadium, as well as holding up country flags of both the United Kingdom and Ireland. During that song, the absolute shock and awe of the magnitude of the fan project was evident on each of the boys’ faces, and it was clear they were amazed that the fans did all of this just for them. The whole performance feels very much like a ‘we made it moment’ for One Direction.
Right Now – One Direction Where We Are 2014 at San Siro – YouTube
- Lyric Changes
During their many performances, the boys were known for throwing in some interesting lyrical changes, which are forever ingrained in the minds of fans. There are too many lyric changes to account for, but there were definitely more serious and less serious lyrics changes done over the years. Some of the more hilarious lyric changes include Harry during ‘Gotta Be You’, singing ‘Big Brown Poo’ or ‘Wrong Sized Shoe’, Niall during ‘Change My Mind’ singing ‘So baby if you say you want me to drive, to KFC’, and Louis during ‘Over Again’, singing ‘The showers that are Spanish/Danish’. Then of course there were more serious lyric changes including the boys changing the lyrics during ‘More Than This’ including Harry and the boys singing ‘What a lie’ and ‘I can love Zayn more than this’ during a particular performance on June 9, 2012 which has meaning in the history of Ziam, or the iconic ‘I’m in love with Lou’ that Harry sang during ‘Little Things’ and ‘I can’t compete with my boyfriend’ that Louis sang during ‘I Would’.
One Direction Live Lyric Changes (youtube.com)
- Zayn’s Hair Strand
An ode to Zayn’s infamous hair strand from One Direction’s appearance at the American Music Awards in 2014. Zayn’s hair was slicked back but he had one strand of hair which hung down his forehead, creating an unforgettable look and of course caused a collective meltdown of the fanbase. The hair style was so iconic that Zayn was actually asked about it in a later interview, where the interviewer read tweets from fans about Zayn’s hair that night, including one that read ‘Zayn’s single hair strand is prettier than my entire face.’ Zayn over the years has had too many amazing hairstyles to compare them, but that definitely remains as a top one.
Zayn Malik “Night Changes” at the AMAS 14 (youtube.com)
- Best Song Ever Music Video
Of course, we had to include the music video for the song ‘Best Song Ever’. This music video is an absolute favourite among fans and for good reason. The video includes the boys each dressed as a character from the music video, most memorably Harry as cute and dorky Marcel, Liam as the fabulous choreographer Leeroy, Zayn as the sexy secretary Veronica, and Niall and Louis as two music executives who are producing One Direction’s newest music video. The whole music video is incredible from beginning to end, from the scene at the beginning of the video (which most fans can quote from memory) to the beloved dance number the boys perform at the end of the song.
One Direction – Best Song Ever – YouTube
- Liam’s Acknowledgment of Pride Flags in Helsinki
An underrated moment, but in honour of Pride Month last month, the moment is noteworthy. At One Direction’s performance in Helsinki, Finland on June 27, 2015, Liam publicly acknowledged the pride flags being held by fans, as the date was actually Pride Day in Finland. In the moment, Liam asked fans to raise the colourful things they were holding or wearing nice and proud so he could take a picture of them. The boys have always been so inclusive of LGBTQIA+ fans and this moment is held near and dear to many fans.
- The Late Late Show Appearances
The boys had several appearances on James Corden’s The Late Late Show, which definitely had to be included on this list. Let’s first revisit when the boys played Tattoo Roulette, which was a game where one of them would have to get tattooed at the end of the game. This was obviously nerve wracking for our tattoo less boy, Niall when he was down to the last two standing between himself and Harry. We also have the infamous Dodgeball game where the boys ultimately unfortunately lost the game and poor Harry takes a hit right to ‘the Styles’. Lastly, the iconic Carpool Karaoke is full of entertaining moments such as Harry belting out a note right in Liam’s ear and James wowing the boys with his own singing.
Tattoo Roulette w/ One Direction (youtube.com)
Dodgeball with One Direction (youtube.com)
One Direction Carpool Karaoke (youtube.com)
- Harry Falling on stage
Is this even a round up list if we don’t mention Harry and his unfortunate clumsiness onstage? Poor Harold was not the most graceful onstage (and still isn’t to this day), but his never ending falling on stage did not go unnoticed. In fact, there was even a montage of him falling on stage that was played in a particular interview the boys had on Ellen. A personal favourite is the quite big fall he took with the mic stand where Harry almost falls one direction, then somehow completely falls in the exact opposite direction (One Direction jokes haha). Enjoy this compilation of Harry falling on stage.
Harry Styles Falling On Stage – COMPILATION (2010-2017) (youtube.com)
- Oh, No, Niall
This brings us to the inclusion of Niall’s most infamous moments of falling over, hitting himself, etc. One of the most humorous moments is that of Niall falling over his golf bag, which inspired the ‘Oh No Niall’ from the interviewer who witnessed the fall, which later became a joke among the boys. Other moments include Niall hitting himself directly in the face when bouncing a basketball, and of course hitting himself in the face with the car visor in the behind the scenes of the ‘Kiss You’ music video.
[FULL] One Direction – Niall Horan Hitting Himself in the Face With a Basketball (youtube.com)
- 1D Day
1D Day is perhaps one of the best things fans received from One Direction’s time together. The 7+ hour live stream of the event took place providing so many unforgettable moments including Liam’s boxing debut, Harry making pottery, Louis and Zayn dancing, and Niall’s lavender hair, just to name a few. A personal fan favourite is of course the ‘Talk Dirty to Me’ music video.
1DDAY FULL LIVESTREAM [23-11-2013] – YouTube
- Louis’ Antics
It felt wrong to not include a spot on this list dedicated to none other than Louis Tomlinson, who brought a majority of the chaos and laughs to the band. It is impossible to choose one of Louis’ moments to highlight on this list so instead let’s appreciate all the incredible memories he gave us, from his various games he played during their time on X-Factor (Spin the Harry anyone?), to the iconic quotes (‘And what do you bring Liam? No hair!’), to him generally picking on and teasing all of his bandmates relentlessly. There is no debating that Louis brought a certain spark to One Direction, which has made him so loved to this day.
Louis Tomlinson Adding a Little Spice to One Direction (youtube.com)
- Lilo Water Fights
Let’s not forget, Liam and Louis’ infamous water fights that happened on stage for the majority of the On The Road Again Tour (OTRA). During this leg of the tour a majority of each show consisted of Liam and Louis chasing each other around the stage in an attempt to soak each other with water, Gatorade, or whatever beverages were readily available to them. These moments on tour gave us endless pictures and GIFs of Lilo soaking each other and just generally causing chaos on stage, each always with massive smiles on their faces. Given the departure of Zayn during this tour, these shenanigans brought entertainment and a laugh to the fans, and the boys alike.
Liam & Louis Water Fight Compilation – OTRAT (youtube.com)
- Their Last Live Performance
A perfect ending to this list is One Direction’s last live performance as a band which occurred December 14, 2015, on the X-Factor. A very bittersweet and nostalgic performance for many, it’s definitely a noteworthy inclusion to this list to see the boys perform for the last time together, and of course at the end of the performance seeing the 4 of them in their last public group hug.
One Direction last performance on the XFactor (youtube.com)
We hope you enjoyed this trip down memory lane of some of the best moments One Direction gave us for the 14th year anniversary. Some additional honourable mentions include Zayn belting out his perfect high notes in every song (especially in You & I), Niall’s high jumps, the game Replay the boys played in interviews, and the never-ending quotes and memories the boys gave us from interviews, performance and their social media. It’s safe to say each one of us dearly misses the boys as One Direction, and although we can never say never to seeing all 5 of them together again, in the meantime we have the memories and of course the music they made together that they left us with. We will leave you with a quote from their song ‘I Want To Write You Song’:
‘I wanna write you a song
One to make your heart remember me
So anytime I’m gone you can listen to my voice and sing along’’
Happy 14 Years of One Direction
