On 23 July 2020, the global sensation that is One Direction will turn 10 years old. Arguably one of the biggest boybands in the world, it was formed in 2010 when five unsuspecting teenagers – Niall Horan, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne – were put into a group on The X Factor. And then the whole world exploded.
Flash forward five years, after 5 albums, 4 tours and countless accomplishments, they decided to go on a hiatus. Five years on, they’re still on a break, enjoying their individual solo highs. But much to fans’ delight, they will be celebrating their 10 year anniversary in style.
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A 10 Year Celebration Video
According to public relations company Simon Jones PR, the group is observing the major milestone by debuting a “10-year celebration video specially-made for their fans.”
“The video will document highlights of the band’s career, from forming on The X Factor to releasing their single ‘History.’ It will include clips from music videos, performances and candid behind-the-scenes video content. And of course the special relationship they have with their fans,” the company states on its website.
Apart from that, a special 10 Years of One Direction website is being launched on the day of their anniversary. It will be a timeline charting the history of the group, from their first audition right up to the start of their hiatus. The website will also host an archive of music videos, artwork, TV performances, behind-the-scenes and rarely-seen content, all in one place.
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Interactive Playlists and Activations
There will also be interactive playlists and activations across all digital platforms, so fans can have an immersive experience. The company states “fans will also be able to generate their own shareable ‘mixtape’ playlist on the site, which will be personalized according to how they’ve interacted with the site’s content and the eras they’ve spent the most time exploring.”
Fans will be able to connect to Spotify and Apple Music and have their mixtape playlists saved to their accounts. Besides that, there will be “exciting activations across Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other platforms. Amazon’s Alexa will be singing Happy Birthday to the band.”
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Reformatted EPs and New(ish) Music
But that’s not all, their music gallery will be getting a clean-up too. They will release reformatted EPs across all streaming platforms. They will feature “B-sides and rare songs, remixes, live recordings and acoustic versions of tracks grouped into one place for fans to rediscover.”
Over the past few months, there have been a lot of rumours about a One Direction reunion in light of their 10 year anniversary. Liam Payne even hinted at it in an interview. But as of right now, these are the plans. And as someone who has been a fan of them for as long as I can remember, I can’t wait to see how they celebrate on the 23rd.
Featured image via Sony Music
