One Direction
2011–12: Up All Night
Released in September 2011, One Direction's debut single, "What Makes You Beautiful", reached number one on the UK Singles Chart, after becoming the most pre-ordered Sony Music Entertainment single in history. Subsequent singles, "Gotta Be You" and "One Thing", peaked in the UK Singles Chart top ten.
2012–13: Take Me Home
One Direction's second studio album, Take Me Home, was released in November 2012. Take Me Home was written in groups and has an average of just under five songwriters per track. Savan Kotecha, Rami Yacoub, and Carl Falk, who composed One Direction's hits "What Makes You Beautiful" and "One Thing", spent six months in Stockholm developing songs for the album, and were able to shape melodies around their tones. One Direction began recording the album in May 2012, in Stockholm at Kinglet Studios.
2013–14: Midnight Memories and This Is Us
One Direction: This Is Us, a 3D documentary and concert movie about the group directed by Morgan Spurlock and produced by Spurlock, Ben Winston, Adam Milano and Simon Cowell, was released by TriStar Pictures on 30 August 2013. The film features the song "Best Song Ever", released on 22 July 2013. "Best Song Ever" slated to serve as the lead single of the group's third studio album Midnight Memories. The film was a box office success, topping the UK and U.S. box offices and grossing over $60 million worldwide. It is currently the fourth highest grossing concert movie.
2014–present: Four
On 8 September, One Direction announced their fourth studio album to be titled Four, set to be released on 17 November 2014. As part of the announcement, one of the songs from the album, "Fireproof" was released for free download for 24 hours on their official website. On 14 September, it was announced the album's first official single "Steal My Girl" would be released on 29 September. The music video was released on 24 October. On 28 October, it was reported that another One Direction music video was in production, suggesting that another single would be released. It was later confirmed that the second single of the album would be "Night Changes". The track was released on 14 November, three days before the album's release. Four was released on 17 November, topping the Billboard 200 and the UK Album Chart once again.
