UPDATE: “There’s no truth to this,” a source close to the band tells HollywoodLife.comb EXCLUSIVELY. “It remains a hiatus with the intention of reuniting as some point, as the guys have said in all recent interviews.”
They decided “not to renew their recording contract,” a source told Us Weekly.” The 1D thing just ran its course. They’ll remain friends, but they are exhausted and want solo careers.” The shocking news comes less than a year after Zayn Malik, 23, left the band to pursue live life as a “normal 22-year-old” and pursue his own path. Looks like the rest of the guys are following in his footsteps! To hear more about 1D’s break, head over to iTunes and download the latest HollywoodLife podcast for free!
The band announced in 2015 that they’d be taking a break after the release of their album Made In The A.M., which came out in November — and that’s exactly how they ended the year. The guys promised fans that this wouldn’t be permanent — “We’re not breaking up,” Niall Horan insisted to Entertainment Tonight in November — but it turns out that might not be the case.
This news isn’t totally surprising: The four remaining band members do all have a lot of projects of their own going on. Most notable, of course, is Louis Tomlinson, 23, who is expecting his first child with Briana Jungwirth any day now. As for Liam Payne and Harry Styles, 21? They’re hoping to stick it out in the music industry…just on their own, according to the mag.
“Liam is really interesting in songwriting and production,” the insider explained, with another adding, “Harry is launching a career in acting and singing.” Based on what we’ve seen so far, this doesn’t seem so far off base: Liam has already written songs for a brand new band, and rapper Juicy J has teased that the 1D singer will be featured on one of his upcoming tracks, while Harry has registered four songs in ASCAP as a solo artist.
Rumors that the band is breaking up for good have spiraled ever since they announced the hiatus, though, and we’ve EXCLUSIVELY learned that this might not be totally definitive. “While the boys are all enjoying their time off, they aren’t committed to splitting up full time yet,” an insider told HollywoodLife.com EXCLUSIVELY. “They are fully aware that any possible reunion would be worth another small fortune to them, so it makes absolutely no sense to split.” The guys are planning to “reassess the situation later down the line,” our source added. We can’t wait that long — we need to know!
HollywoodLifers: Do you think One Direction will actually break up? Are you shocked to hear this?