News Analysis India

Tag: One Direction

  • Harry Styles sets stage on fire with first of his 15 shows at Madison Square Garden

    By IANS

    LOS ANGELES: English singer-songwriter Harry Styles, who has been ruling the Instagram reels of late with his ‘As It Was’ track, recently performed first of his 15 shows at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, etching the moment forever in the hearts of a crowd of roughly 20,000 fans.The former One Direction member made a single request of his fans during his time on stage: “I ask only one very, very simple thing, I need you to have as much fun as you can possibly have,” he said, quoted by Billboard.Then with a grin smiling as he looked at the throngs of screaming admirers packed into Madison Square Garden, he pumped the excitement further “I challenge you to have as much fun as I’m gonna have.”According to Billboard, the fans at the venue didn’t need this reminder, even before Styles took to the stage, the attendees were operating on a good-vibes-only basis.Those vibes started with a set from alternative R&B star Blood Orange, which saw the performer break out hits like ‘You’re Not Good Enough’ and ‘Time Will Tell’ throughout a chilled-out set.Billboard added that they continued as the crowd sang along to hits from One Direction, Queen and even Frank Sinatra as they waited for Styles to take to the stage.Once he did, though, that energy was turned up to an 11. Wailing along with Styles as he pulled out recent favourites like ‘Daydreaming’ and ‘Adore You’, every word of the star’s performance was being echoed by a crowd of attentive devotees.The space, meanwhile, remained relatively spartan for a tour of this magnitude a few sets of drums and keyboards set on either side, Styles’ stage sat smack-dab in the middle of the iconic venue, with catwalks extending to either side where the star could rush out and sing directly to the crowd.It was a set up Styles made sure he mentioned early-on in his set of bangers.”Quick disclaimer — this show is in 360 degrees, we’re in the round,” he said. “Sometimes we’re gonna be face-to-face, eye-to-eye, window to soul-to-window to soul. That means that some of the time I’ll be facing away from you, and you’ll be face-to-ass. If you find yourself discovering a preference, let me know and I will deliver face and ass evenly.”

    LOS ANGELES: English singer-songwriter Harry Styles, who has been ruling the Instagram reels of late with his ‘As It Was’ track, recently performed first of his 15 shows at the Madison Square Garden in New York City, etching the moment forever in the hearts of a crowd of roughly 20,000 fans.
    The former One Direction member made a single request of his fans during his time on stage: “I ask only one very, very simple thing, I need you to have as much fun as you can possibly have,” he said, quoted by Billboard.
    Then with a grin smiling as he looked at the throngs of screaming admirers packed into Madison Square Garden, he pumped the excitement further “I challenge you to have as much fun as I’m gonna have.”
    According to Billboard, the fans at the venue didn’t need this reminder, even before Styles took to the stage, the attendees were operating on a good-vibes-only basis.
    Those vibes started with a set from alternative R&B star Blood Orange, which saw the performer break out hits like ‘You’re Not Good Enough’ and ‘Time Will Tell’ throughout a chilled-out set.
    Billboard added that they continued as the crowd sang along to hits from One Direction, Queen and even Frank Sinatra as they waited for Styles to take to the stage.
    Once he did, though, that energy was turned up to an 11. Wailing along with Styles as he pulled out recent favourites like ‘Daydreaming’ and ‘Adore You’, every word of the star’s performance was being echoed by a crowd of attentive devotees.
    The space, meanwhile, remained relatively spartan for a tour of this magnitude a few sets of drums and keyboards set on either side, Styles’ stage sat smack-dab in the middle of the iconic venue, with catwalks extending to either side where the star could rush out and sing directly to the crowd.
    It was a set up Styles made sure he mentioned early-on in his set of bangers.
    “Quick disclaimer — this show is in 360 degrees, we’re in the round,” he said. “Sometimes we’re gonna be face-to-face, eye-to-eye, window to soul-to-window to soul. That means that some of the time I’ll be facing away from you, and you’ll be face-to-ass. If you find yourself discovering a preference, let me know and I will deliver face and ass evenly.”

  • Harry Styles duets with Shania Twain at Coachella

    LOS ANGELES: Singer Harry Styles started off his headlining set at Coachella with a simple greeting – ‘Good evening. My name is Harry’.”It’s big in here, innit?” Styles cracked, before explaining how things were gonna go. “For the next 80-or-something minutes, our job is to entertain you. I promise you we’ll do our absolute very best. You also have one job – that is to have much fun as you possibly can. I want you to be whoever it is you always wanted to be in this field tonight,” reports ‘Variety’.For Styles, that meant a regression of sorts – to his younger, pre-One Direction days when he would sing Shania Twain songs in the car.”This lady taught me to sing,” said Styles of Twain. “She also told me that men are trash.” Said Twain: “I’m a bit starstruck, what can I say? No, really, I’m a fan of you, of course. I realise that when I was writing this song, you were just a little kid. It’s kind of a dream and very surreal to be sitting here right now to sing this song with you. I think I’m just in love and this song is all about love. So let’s just sing about love.” The two then took to stools to sing 1997’s ‘You’re Still the One’, reports ‘Variety’.Earlier in the set, Styles brought out a couple new songs of his own: the just-released ‘As It Was’, and a new tune presumably called ‘Boyfriends’, in which Styles remarked: “Who in the audience has ever had a boyfriend? Who in the audience has never had a boyfriend? To boyfriends everywhere, fuck you.”Styles implored the crowd “to please be gentle” for the track’s debut. The acoustic-based song with multiple harmonies tells of what seems like an on-again-off-again relationship in which, ‘You still open the door’.Later on, Styles debuted another unreleased track, ‘Late Night Talking’. Styles’ third studio album, ‘Harry’s House’, is due out May 20. It all related nicely to Styles’ comment at the top of the set: “We have a full moon, you have a ticket and I have to play.”

  • Liam Payne opens up about ‘One Direction’, shares advice he’d give his younger self

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: Singer-songwriter Liam Payne recently looked back at his ‘One Direction’ days and shared the advice he would give his younger self at the very beginning of the popular boy band’s rise to fame.

    In a new interview with Glamour UK, the 27-year-old singer looked back at when the group first formed and shared the advice he’d give his younger self, reported E! News. “I think just have more fun and relax a little bit,” he replied.

    He added, “I think I was a very serious child, one of those man-childs, I was a man in a child’s body pretty early on. And I think I would have avoided that stage, to be honest with you. To enter One Direction as that difficult, because it just meant that I got completely a different job to everybody else.”

    Payne said he “should have just larked around and thrown plates out the window and stuff!” But when the interviewer asked if this meant more rock and roll, the artist clarified, “Well, I mean at the start, and then later on a bit less rock and roll.”

    Payne and his bandmates were just teenagers when they were catapulted into fame in 2010 and growing up in the limelight wasn’t exactly easy. “I think we all go through that awkward teen phase where you’re finding yourself,” he explained.

    Payne further said, “And most of us, we get to get away with it. And they’re funny family photos for later on; here was your emo phase or whatever you went through! And for us, we never got away with being awkward or annoying at points. It was kind of out there for everyone to see; the awful haircuts and we’re talking terrible clothes, it was all out there.”

    The journey taught Payne a great deal about measuring success, which he said evolved from a “monetary thing” to “more about happiness and experiences” and failure. “It’s taught me I think that perseverance will always prevail in that sense,” he told Glamour UK.

    Payne added, “Because it doesn’t always go exactly to plan. We were really lucky when we came up, we absolutely skyrocketed. And then, it’s been hard to follow that ever since.” Still, as hard as it may be, Payne tries not to play the comparison game. “But you know, measuring a failure as well. What is a failure?” he continued.

    Payne added, “And people will look at this and, for us sometimes getting a 100,000,000 streams isn’t quite what we aim for, but it’s still 100,000,000 streams….you have to kind of get a hold of yourself. Everything is about perspective at the end of the day, isn’t it? That was something I struggled with for a long time, because of how well it went for the band.”

    These days, Payne, like his fellow One Direction alumni, is focusing on his career as a solo artist. He’s released a number of popular songs, including ‘Strip That Down’ and ‘Bedroom Floor’. He is also a father to 4-year-old son Bear, whom he welcomed with his ex Cheryl Cole in 2017, and is engaged to Maya Henry.

    Payne also revealed that he keeps in touch with some of his bandmates.

    He said, “Louis from my band has always been quite great to sit with me and talk with me about stuff. And if I’m feeling a certain way. We’ve been quite good with each other, actually in that respect and helping each other out, which has been nice.”

    Apart from Payne, One Direction included Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Zayn Malik and Louis Tomlinson. Though the group did not win during their time competing on Simon Cowell’s singing competition ‘The X Factor’, they became an international sensation in 2011 after appearing on the show.

    Over the years, One Direction released a number of popular hits, including ‘What Makes You Beautiful’, ‘Steal My Girl’, and ‘Story of My Life’.

    The boy band released six top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and a total of 29 fan-favourites that earned a spot on the list. In 2012, their album ‘Up All Night’ peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and remained on the list for 105 weeks.

    One Direction took a hiatus in 2015, following Malik’s exit from the band. Since their disbandment in August 2015, Horan, Styles, Malik, Tomlinson and Payne have each released solo projects.

  • Niall Horan says One Direction fans made him feel ‘like a prisoner’

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: Singer-songwriter Niall Horan recently revealed that he sometimes felt “like a prisoner” as a member of the popular boy band One Direction due to the fervent fans that the group had.

    As per People magazine, in a recent episode of ‘People, Just People’ with British host Dermot O’Leary, the 27-year-old hitmaker revealed that he sometimes felt “like a prisoner” during his time with the group, which included fellow members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, and Liam Payne.

    Though the group did not win during their time competing on Simon Cowell’s singing competition ‘The X Factor’, they became an international sensation in 2011 after appearing on the show.

    However, their popularity attracted thousands of fans who often invaded their privacy during press tours and other occasions.

    “I struggled with the idea of, ‘Why won’t you just let us out?’” he said of the instances in which fans would be “banging on car windows before we could get out of the vehicle. I was thinking, ‘We just want to go for a walk,’ you know?”

    “But, you can’t get inside the brain of a fan and now I completely get it, but at the time, you’re like, ‘You’re our age. Just let us out.’” he told the host.

    He added, “I wanted to say, ‘We just want to walk down the street. You must understand.’”

    Horan went on to detail his experience during One Direction’s first all-stadium tour, ‘Where We Are’, which was international and spanned from April 25, 2014, to October 5, 2014.

    “I vividly recall being in all these amazing cities, but not being able to see them because fans would surround our hotel,” he said.

    The band could not enjoy the simple pleasures of sightseeing or grabbing a bite in public because fans would intrude. “The police had done a headcount and there were 10,000 people in the street the whole time,” said the star.

    Though it was not enjoyable for Horan, and likely his mates, to feel trapped because of One Direction’s aggressive superfan base, it is no surprise that music listeners were so drawn to the quintet.

    One Direction released six top 10 hits on Billboard’s Hot 100 chart and a total of 29 fan-favourites that earned a spot on the list. In 2012, their album ‘Up All Night’ peaked at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and remained on the list for 105 weeks.

    One Direction took a hiatus in 2015, following Malik’s exit from the band. Since their disbandment in August 2015, Horan, Styles, Malik, Tomlinson and Payne have each released solo projects.

    Horan released his second solo album ‘Heartbreak Weather’ last year, which included the single ‘Nice to Meet Ya’.

  • Zayn Malik makes his musical comeback with new song ‘Vibez’

    By ANI
    WASHINGTON: Two years after he released his last album ‘Icarus Falls,’ former ‘One Direction’ member and musician Zayn Malik on Thursday (local time) released his new song ‘Vibez.’ The new song marks the second song of his third studio album ‘Nobody Is Listening’ and is also the follow-up to his single ‘Better.’

    Vibez Out Now! Nobody is Listening – out Jan 15th! pic.twitter.com/dmurpN7ATf
    — zayn (@zaynmalik) January 8, 2021

    The ‘Pillowtalk’ singer shared the update about his new song on Instagram by sharing a short part of the song. “Vibez out now! Nobody is Listening – Jan 15th!” he wrote as in the caption. Earlier on Wednesday (local time), the musician teased the track on his Instagram story with a short clip. Malik had earlier in September 2020 welcomed his first child with his supermodel girlfriend Gigi Hadid.