This week, One Direction fans and the band themselves are celebrating 10 years since the group formed on The X Factor.
As part of the celebrations, a brand new website is being launched with interactive playlists, and a video charting 1D’s rapid rise to world domination.
Over the course of five years, One Direction scooped more than 200 awards, including recognition for their colourful music videos.
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Many of those acknowledged the personalities of each member while also highlighting their close bond as a band. Others, such as “Little Things” and “Story of My Life”, were sensitively shot and showed a more vulnerable side to the group.
To join in with the anniversary celebrations, we’ve ranked our top 10 favourite videos from the band, below:
10) “Live While We’re Young”
Released in 2012, the “Live While We’re Young” video stays true to the band’s image as wholesome but cheeky young lads out to enjoy life. It’s remarkably innocent for the most part, showing the boys frolicking around a campsite – even a woodland rave looks remarkably PG. Things get a tad hotter when Harry Styles turns up in a soaking wet T-shirt.
9) “Story of My Life”
Global fame sounds fun in some ways, but 1D showed fans the things they missed the most while on the road in this touching video, starring family and friends of the band.
8) “Little Things”
One Direction went full boyband with this retro-style black and white video, for their hit song written with Ed Sheeran.
7) “One Thing”
In something of an homage to Beatlemania, the Fab Five go on a London bus jaunt around the city, for a video that invites 1D fans to join in the fun.
6) “Midnight Memories”
The band’s third album unveiled a new rock sound in comparison to the upbeat pop of yore. It’s not surprising, then, to see the band wearing checked shirts, leather jackets and denim jeans at a house party that goes from lame to rowdy in a few short moments. Top marks for the vertigo-inducing stunt where they climb to the top of Tower Bridge in London for the big finish.
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5) “Night Changes”
First dates go horribly wrong in this endearingly self-deprecating video. Harry and his date end up at A&E after ice-skating goes wrong, Liam throws up after a ride on a carousel, Zayn’s date’s ex turns up to cause trouble, Niall sets himself on fire, and Louis gets carted off in a police car.
4) “Best Song Ever”
One of the more “out there” 1D music videos has the boys dress up as industry execs trying to get the band to make a glossy music video. They’re not interested, and when they get bored, things get messy at the label office.
3) “Drag Me Down”
Perhaps in reference to the band’s stratospheric levels of fame, the boys head to outer space in this video filmed at the Nasa headquarters.
2) “What Makes You Beautiful”
An oldie but goodie. The band’s debut single was accompanied by a video that shows them fulfilling teenage fantasies by larking about on the beach. The sight of Harry singing while looking into a girl’s eyes likely set thousands of hearts racing around the world.
1) “Kiss You”
This flat-out silly video shows the band recreating a number of classic boyband tropes and clearly having a lot of fun in the process.
