<P> Their awards include six Brit Awards, four MTV Video Music Awards, eleven MTV Europe Music Awards, seven American Music Awards (including Artist of the Year in 2014 and 2015), and 28 Teen Choice Awards, among many others . According to Nick Gatfield, the chairman and chief executive of Sony Music Entertainment UK, One Direction represented a $50 million business empire by June 2012 . They were proclaimed 2012's "Top New Artist" by Billboard . According to the Sunday Times Rich List, by April 2013, they had an estimated personal combined wealth of £ 25 million ($41.2 m) making them the second - wealthiest musicians in the UK under 30 years of age . In 2014, Forbes listed them the second - highest earning celebrities under 30, with the group earning an estimated $75 million from June 2013 to June 2014 . In June 2015, Forbes listed their earnings at $130 million for the previous twelve months, and ranked them the fourth highest earning celebrities in the world . In 2016 Forbes ranked them the world's second highest earning celebrities . </P> <P> After the release of Four, One Direction became the first band in the US Billboard 200 history to have their first four albums debut at number one . Their third album, Midnight Memories, was the best - selling album worldwide of 2013 . The band's Where We Are Tour in support of Midnight Memories and Four, was the highest - grossing concert tour in 2014, and the highest - grossing tour ever by a vocal group, generating $282 million . In 2014, Billboard named One Direction Artist of the Year . The band is currently on a hiatus that began in January 2016, allowing all members to pursue other projects . </P> <P> In 2010, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson auditioned as solo candidates for the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor . They failed to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges' houses" but were put together to form a five - piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category . Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, and Simon Cowell have both claimed to have come up with the idea of forming the band . In 2013, Cowell said that it "took him 10 minutes to put them together as a group". Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know each other and to practice . Styles came up with the name One Direction . For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Cowell later commented that their performance convinced him that they "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 his last act in the competition . The group quickly gained popularity in the UK . </P> <P> One Direction achieved third place in the competition and immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor, was leaked onto the internet . Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £ 2 million Syco Records record contract . Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a record producer . A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list . The same month, 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 . </P>

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