Where Were You When Zayn Left One Direction?

March 25, 2015 - do you remember where you were? I do.

I was in high school, walking to my final class of the day, refreshing my socials when I stopped dead in my tracks. I saw an Instagram post from E!News that had a picture of Zayn Malik, then member of One Direction.

Looking at the post without reading the caption I knew something was up - either he had passed away (unlikely) or something dramatic happened (very likely).

Scrolling down further, my jaw dropped when I read that he had decided to leave the popular band. I couldn’t believe it. I actually had to take a moment to remind myself to breathe before going to my next class.

You might be reading this and wondering why was this bothering me so much.

Let me fill you in. I was a HUGE fan of One Direction. I’m talking about buying their cds, posters, watching interviews, going to see them in concert, spending hours watching youtube videos of them. They consumed my life.

Truly was one of the best nights of my life.

One of my best friend, Diana and I at a One Direction concert, circa 2014.

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I just couldn’t believe it - I had so many questions and not enough answers. Why would he want to leave? Was there more drama behind the scenes? Did they fight? Did they never really like each other? Was he going to pursue his own career? And most importantly - was this the end of One Direction?

As mad as I could be at Zayn for leaving, there was obviously a reason behind it. He clearly did not seem to be happy and as frustrating as the situation was for a fan, I kind of have to respect the move. If leaving the band and getting out of that situation was going to make him feel better, then so be it.

While One Direction did go on and produce another album without Zayn, it also stirred up the conversation for solo projects from the other remaining members. Some of my favourite albums and projects were born of this dissolve of One Direction. I’ve mostly paid attention to Harry Styles’ and Niall Horan’s freshman and sophomore albums, even seeing them live for their solo concerts. They were just as amazing, maybe even better, solo as they were part of a group.

Here’s to making new memories to this new era of music! Hopefully they don’t break my heart either.

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