Niall Horan Biography

Niall James Horan (born 13 September 1993) is an Irish singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the boy band One Direction. In 2010, Horan auditioned as a solo artist for British televised singing competition The X Factor. After being eliminated as a solo performer, Horan joined four other contestants to form One Direction. The band has released five commercially successful albums, performed on four worldwide tours, and won a number of awards.

Following the band's hiatus in 2016, Horan signed a recording deal as a solo artist with Capitol Records. His singles "This Town" and "Slow Hands" from his debut studio album Flicker (2017) reached the top 20 in several countries. The album debuted at number one in Ireland and the United States, as well as charting within the top three in Australia and the UK.

Early life

Niall James Horan was born on 13 September 1993 in Mullingar, Ireland. His parents, Bobby Horan and Maura Gallagher, divorced when he was five years old, so he and his brother Greg Horan lived with their mother for a year. After spending a year apart from their father, they later decided to move in with him. He attended St. Kenny's National School primary school and, as a teen, Coliste Mhuire, a Catholic boys school, which are both located in Mullingar. Horan started playing guitar when his brother got one for Christmas but failed to play it, so Horan started to play with it and taught himself how to do it by playing it off YouTube at the age of 11. His aunt discovered his talent one day when she was in the car with Niall as he started singing. She originally thought the radio was on. As a teenager he performed at the Mullingar Arts Centre (in a fund-raiser for the local football team, the Shamrocks). He was also bagging a support slot with former X Factor contestant Lloyd Daniels at the famous Academy club in Dublin.

Music career

2010: The X Factor

In 2010, at sixteen years old, Niall auditioned for the seventh series of The X Factor in Dublin. He sang "So Sick", and received mixed comments from the judges. Louis Walsh was in his favour, but Cheryl Cole and guest judge Katy Perry, felt he needed some time to grow. Simon voted to let him through, Cheryl said no, and Louis quickly added in his yes, and left Niall's fate up to Katy. She decided to vote yes, and Niall was put through to bootcamp.

At bootcamp, Niall sang "Champagne Supernova", but failed to qualify for the "Boys" category. After a suggestion from guest judge Nicole Scherzinger, Niall was put into a group with four other boys, who also failed to move on in the competition, but since they were too good to let go, the judges decided to agree with Nicole. Niall, along with Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik, formed One Direction. Styles came up with the band name, which he thought would sound good when announcer Peter Dickson read their name out on the live shows. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practice. For their qualifying song at "judges' houses" and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Simon Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well." Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last act in the competition. During the competition, the band performed different songs such as Kelly Clarkson's "My Life Would Suck Without You" and Bonnie Tyler's "Total Eclipse of the Heart", quickly gaining popularity in the UK. Nonetheless, they finished in third place, behind runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.

2011-2015: Breakthrough with One Direction

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Following The X Factor, One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported 2 million Syco record contract. They began recording their debut album in January 2011, they flew over to Los Angeles to record it. In February 2011, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in The X Factor Live Tour. During the tour, the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album. Recording took place in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac and Rami Yacoub, among others.

In 2011, they released their first studio album, Up All Night. It debuted at number one on the United States Billboard 200, selling 176,000 copies in its first week. This led to One Direction becoming the first British band to debut its first studio album at number one. Their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful", reached number one in Ireland, Mexico and the UK. The subsequent singles, "Gotta Be You", "One Thing" and "More than This", had moderate success, being successful in some countries, but failing in others. To promote the album, they embarked on the Up All Night Tour and released the tour's DVD, Up All Night: The Live Tour.

In November 2012, they released their second studio album, Take Me Home. This album had a better reception than their first album, reaching number one in the UK and becoming their first album to top the UK chart. It also reached the first spot in Australia, Canada, the United States, Ireland and New Zealand. "Live While We're Young", one of the singles, reached number one in Ireland and New Zealand, while "Little Things" reached number one in the UK. The third single, "Kiss You", made it to several charts, but never topped any. Additionally, they embarked on their second tour, the Take Me Home Tour, which covered four continents. Their movie This Is Us, directed by Morgan Spurlock was mostly shot during the tour. The film grossed more than $30 million worldwide its first weekend in theatres. Horan played guitar for Take Me Home.

They also sang a medley of Blondie's "One Way or Another" and The Undertones' "Teenage Kicks" called "One Way or Another (Teenage Kicks)", in order to raise funds for Comic Relief.

The band's third studio album, Midnight Memories, was released on 25 November 2013. Their fourth album, Four, was released on 17 November 2014. This album is One Direction's last album as a five-piece. Their fifth album, Made in the A.M., was released on 13 November 2015. It reached number one in several counties including the UK, beating Justin Bieber's Purpose. This album is One Direction's last album before the hiatus.

2016-present: Flicker

In September 2016, it was announced that Horan had signed a solo deal with Capitol Records. On 29 September 2016 Horan released his debut solo single "This Town". Since its release, it has peaked at number 9 on the UK Singles Chart, and number 20 on the US Billboard Hot 100.

On 4 May 2017, Horan released his second solo single "Slow Hands". It also entered the top 10 in the UK and the top 20 in the US. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Horan stated his upcoming new album Flicker was inspired by classic rock acts, including Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles, "Whenever I would pick up a guitar, I would always naturally play chords like that, and finger pick a lot and play that folky kind of style." He also described the collection as having a "folk-with-pop feel to it." Horan will embark on his worldwide tour Flicker Sessions 2017 in August. Also in August, Horan revealed that he had contacted Maren Morris to contribute to his song "Seeing Blind". Later the same month, he debuted a song titled "On My Own" at Dublin's Olympia Theatre. On 15 September 2017, Horan released his third single from the album, "Too Much to Ask". On 8 November 2017, Horan performed alongside Maren Morris at the 51st Country Music Association Awards.

Influences

In an interview with Digital Spy, Horan cited Michael Bubl as one of his biggest influences because they had similar life histories, as he was discovered by his aunt and the same thing happened to Bubl, except he was discovered by his father.

Horan has also stated that he is a "big, big swing fan", citing his favourite artists as Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Bubl. Horan likes rock music and is a fan of The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Bon Jovi, and The Script.

Personal life

Horan's parents have divorced and his mother has since remarried. He has an older brother named Greg. Horan is a supporter of Football League Championship side Derby County. Horan is fan of golf; he can be seen at numerous golf events and has participated in the BMW PGA Championship Pro-Am at Wentworth. He also enjoys watching tennis and cricket occasionally; he has gone twice to the Australian Open and he's also friends with the player Novak Djokovic, and is a supporter of the Ireland cricket team.

Horan enjoyed playing a number of sports while growing up, including golf, football, and Gaelic football. In the summer of 2010, while playing football with friends, Horan injured his knee and was diagnosed with a floating kneecap. The problem recurred several times over the next couple of years, including a 2013 incident where he dislocated his knee onstage during a concert in Antwerp, Belgium. Horan came to the United States for major reconstructive surgery in January 2014, after the tour ended. After the surgery, Horan was invited to do physical therapy with Chelsea by their manager, Jos Mourinho. Horan went through more than seven weeks of physical therapy with the members of the team and their physical therapist at their training ground in Surrey.

Horan has involved himself in the sports world a number of times on social media, and on 8 April 2015, he caddied for professional golfer Rory McIlroy for the Par 3 contest prior to the 2015 Masters Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. A video of Horan losing his balance during a televised interview with McIlroy circulated around the internet for several days following the tournament, causing Horan himself to tweet about the fall.

In 2016, Horan and golf player Justin Rose created the "Horan and Rose Gala", a charity event in aid of Cancer Research UK Kids and Teens. The event was hosted by Kirsty Gallagher and Gaby Logan in London, with a dinner cooked by Jamie Oliver and a performance by Olly Murs on 29-30 May. On 12 April, Rose posted a photo of him and Horan writing songs for the event.

In April 2016, Horan was announced to be joining the Soccer Aid 2016 star line-up fundraiser for UNICEF as an assistant manager and player for the Rest of the World team. His team will consist of Claudio Ranieri, Gordon Ramsay, Michael Sheen, Nicky Byrne, and Rickie Haywood Williams, among others. Horan's team will play against fellow bandmate Louis Tomlinson, who is playing for the England team.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	The X Factor	Himself	Contestant; Series 7
2012	iCarly		Guest role; (Season 6, Episode 2)
	Saturday Night Live		Musical guest; (Season 37, Episode 18)
2013	One Direction: This Is Us
	Saturday Night Live		Musical guest; (Season 39, Episode 8)
2014	One Direction: Where We Are - The Concert Film
	Saturday Night Live		Musical guest; (Season 40, Episode 10)
	One Direction: The TV Special
2017	One Love Manchester

Discography

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• Flicker (2017)

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Nominee/work	Result
2016	BMI London Awards	Pop Award Songs	"Night Changes"	rowspan=2
2017	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Breakout Artist	Niall Horan
	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Best Solo Breakout
	Radio Disney Music Awards	Best Male Artist		rowspan=3
	iHeartRadio Much Music Video Awards	Fan Fave International Artist or Group
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Song: Male Artist	"Slow Hands"
		Choice Summer Male Artist	Niall Horan
	Telehit Awards	Video in English	"Slow Hands"	rowspan=3
	BMI London Awards	Pop Award Songs	"This Town"
	American Music Awards	New Artist of the Year	Niall Horan
2018	Global Awards	Best Song	"Slow Hands"
		Best Male	Niall Horan
		Best Pop
	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Best New Pop Artist
		Best Solo Breakout
		Best Lyrics	"Slow Hands"
		Best Cover Song	"Issues"

Concert tours

• Flicker Sessions 2017
• Flicker World Tour

See also

• List of Billboard Social 50 number-one artists