Will There Be A One Direction Reunion?

They say time heals all wounds, but it’s been six years and we’re still holding out hope for a One Direction reunion. With the group’s ten year anniversary been and gone in the summer of 2020, so with it went the relentless media speculation of how 1D might surprise fans with a comeback. As time goes on, the question seems to have shifted from ‘when the band reunites’ to ‘if.’

When Did One Direction Breakup?

One Direction split for an indefinite hiatus in August 2015. The move came after a turbulent start to the year with Zayn Malik announcing his dramatic departure in March. In the words of former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, fans were left “devastated” following the announcement. In the years since, the remaining four members of One Direction have been steadfast in reassuring fans that we will see them together once again, even confirming that they have an active Whatapp group chat. However, Directioners have been left in the dark regarding a timescale for a 1D reunion. 

Since their official hiatus, the five original members – Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik – have all launched solo careers. All have released albums, with Payne and Malik also venturing into fashion, Styles into acting, Tomlinson into reality show judging and Horan into golf management. Three of the five have also started families.

A Brief History of Boy Band Reunions

With the exciting developments in the personal and professional lives of the 1D boys, when will we finally see the reunion we were promised? Let’s look at the data:

*One-off performance

From the Jackson 5 to the Jonas Brothers, most successful boy bands tend to reunite after parting ways. Of the ten most successful boy bands in history (not counting One Direction), eight have had a reunion. The two notable exceptions are The Beatles who never reunited prior to John Lennon’s death and Boyz II Men who never broke up in the first place. If history is anything to go by, a One Direction reunion is definitely on the cards. 

One Direction — was it a break, or a break-up?

However, it may not happen particularly soon. Most boy band reunions happen around ten years after their initial breakup. The Backstreet Boys are an outlier with their reunion coming just two years after the split, but the group was under unique circumstances battling issues with their management during the hiatus. The other two bands who reunited less than a decade after their breakup – Take That and Westlife – each had members who tried to foster solo careers during their time away. In both cases, the members failed to achieve anywhere close to the success enjoyed by the 1D boys in their solo ventures.  It seems likely that these reunions were therefore more economic than fan-driven. 

Will Zayn Malik Rejoin One Direction in 2021?

Of course a key component in any reunion is the willingness of the members to reconcile the differences which led to their initial breakup. While many boy bands have gone their separate ways due to vicious infighting and inflated egos, One Direction seems to have split for amicable reasons. Malik cited his motivation for leaving the group as having a lack of creative input and a desire to pursue other musical styles. It appears that the others may have disbanded for similar reasons, with each of them occupying a different musical style in their recent solo work. Both of Horan’s albums have had a soft folk-pop sound while Tomlinson has produced electronic dance music. Payne’s albums are perhaps the most varied, mixing pop, electronic and heavy R&B influences and Styles has found a home in the soft rock genre. 

While the four remaining members seem to be on good terms and frequently interact with one another on social media, Malik’s relationship with them is still in doubt. Some initial breakup tension played out on Twitter and culminated in Malik publicly stating that he no longer speaks to any of the band. 

A similar situation arose in 1995, when fellow British boy band Take That lost Robbie Williams when he decided to pursue a solo career. In 1996, the rest of Take That called time on the band. When they reunited in 2005 they did so without Williams. That said, in 2010 Williams returned to the fold and performed with the group for around two years before leaving once again. 

When 1D do return will it be with Zayn alongside them? That remains to be seen, but Directioners have reason to be positive. In 2017, Malik told US Weekly that he wasn’t opposed to the idea of a reunion.  “Who knows? I’ve said it before: Never say never. If I wanted to come back in 10, 15 years time, then yeah, why not?”

When Will One Direction Reunite?

If history is anything to go by, One Direction will have some sort of reunion but fans shouldn’t expect it to be soon. As they departed for hiatus on relatively good terms and have each enjoyed great success in their solo endeavors, it’s unlikely that they’ll put their personal projects on hold to step under the 1D banner again — but that doesn’t mean we don’t want to see the odds.

Will One Direction Reunite Before July 2022?

Entertainment odds provided via Bovada.

Will One Direction Reunite Overall?

Entertainment odds provided via Bovada.

Further, with many of them having young children, it’s unlikely that they’d be willing to start the years of recording, promotion and touring that goes into being a boy band anytime in the near future. 

While we may see the boys reunite for a one-off performance at some point, a full reunion album and tour is probably many years away. Hang in there, Directioners.