What year did One Direction form?

One Direction formed in 2010.

The five future members auditioned separately for the seventh series of the British talent show The X Factor. Although Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson did not progress as solo contestants in the boys’ category, they were brought together as a group on 23 July 2010.

That television decision created the five-piece band known as One Direction. Harry Styles is credited with suggesting the name, and Simon Cowell later mentored the group during the live shows. They finished third in the competition, but their popularity led to a recording contract with Syco soon afterward.

A common mix-up is to date the band’s beginning to 2011, when recording and promotion for their debut album accelerated, or to 2012, when the group became a major commercial success in the United States. The band itself was created in 2010, before the release of Up All Night and before its international breakthrough.