ZAYN

The name Zayn Malik means "beautiful king" in Arabic. He has a Pakistani father named Yaser and an English mother named Tricia who converted to Islam to marry. Both Zayn and his sister Safaa were raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, as Muslims.

In the summer of 2010, 17-year-old Zayn traveled to Manchester to audition for the seventh season of the British televised singing competition The X Factor. His tryout song was Mario's 2004 hit, "Let Me Love You." "My main influences in music came from my dad," Zayn told the BBC. "It was a lot of R&B, a lot of R. Kelly, a lot of Usher, a lot of Donell Jones, a lot of Prince. He used to play a lot of rap as well, 2Pac and Biggie. A lot of bop, a lot of reggae, Gregory Isaac and weird artists like Yellowman."

Zayn Malik joined One Direction in July 2010 during his time on The X Factor. He was originally eliminated from the competition as a solo artist but was brought back to form the five-piece boy band along with Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson. The group finished in third place on the show but went on to become one of the most successful boy bands of all time.