Here's What The One Direction Guys Have Been Up To This Summer
Hey guys, it's Friday, July 21! Do you know what that means? That's right, it's the 92nd anniversary of the Scopes Monkey decision, the evolution trial you learned about in school. I'm kidding, obviously — I mean, it's that, too, but it's also the day Harry Styles makes his big-screen debut in Christopher Nolan's new film, Dunkirk, which is a big deal.
Harry's toast-munching acting debut (and his first solo album) reminds us that there is life after One Direction, though obviously at the time the group announced its hiatus nearly two years ago, it seemed inconceivable.
But all four members (and Zayn) have led very busy 2017s, and because the year is a little more than half over, it might be a good idea to catch up and see what else they've been up to. Check it out below.
Yes, that's Harry having a proper bread snack on a submarine (about three minutes in) before taking a torpedo in Dunkirk, which director Nolan cast him in without really knowing quite how famous he was. That's OK though. He knows now.
Harry also put out Harry Styles in May and performed two songs on Saturday Night Live ahead of the release. He's given one-word interviews, hosted The Tonight Show (briefly) and The Late Late Show (for a bit longer), and stood up for gender equality. All in all, pretty good year for the dude.
At the end of 2016, Louis teamed up with Steve Aoki for "Just Hold On," and the pair brought the song to The X-Factor U.K., where he and the 1D guys got their start. This ended up being a sign of things to come: As luck would have it, Louis dropped his proper solo debut, "Back to You," on July 21 as well, and it's the first taste of a reluctant star grabbing a bit of the spotlight for himself.
"If you'd asked me a year or 18 months ago, 'Are you going to do anything as a solo artist?' I'd have said absolutely not," Tomlinson told the Guardian in June. But "Back to You," which also features Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals, is seeing a proper rollout today with a video and plenty of love across social media — including from his bandmate, Niall.
Earlier this month, Niall announced a string of intimate theater dates called the Flicker Sessions with a cozy image of him performing in front of many lamps. It's a 21-date tour beginning in late August that'll hit five continents (!) and presumably go hand-in-hand with his impending (and yet to be announced) debut solo album.
Based on the singles he's released so far — the folky "This Town," which he sang at Ariana Grande's One Love Manchester benefit show in June, and the more sultry "Slow Hands" — it seems like it'll be an arrival tour. Niall is here. And he's been hanging out (well, at least once) with Liam, too.
I'll say it again: The only canonical "Get Low" in the universe belongs to Lil Jon, but Liam's recent entry is a worthy entry in the grand pantheon of songs with that particular title. It's summer, you know? It's time to dance and let Liam put his hands on your waist, with some help from Zedd. Or if you'd rather he strip that down with help from Quavo, he can do that, too. Liam has spent the summer releasing dance-pop singles, finally revealing his son's wild name to the world (it's Bear), and singing with Louis, sort of, on a charity single for London's Grenfell Tower fire. Oh, and his Charlie Puth collab is coming.
Zayn still counts, OK? Here he is brooding at a house party hanging out with a monkey and no one else — not even PartyNextDoor, who features on the song. This video is very NSFW, by the way. Enjoy it. See you in December!
