One Direction surprise fans with first social media post in four years

Tomorrow (23 July) will mark the 10-year anniversary for the world-dominating boyband

One Direction have surprised fans with their first Instagram post in four years, ahead of their 10-year anniversary tomorrow (23 July).

The post reads: “10 years of One Direction” with a reference to their song, “History”.

On 23 July 2010, the band were formed on The X Factor after Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne initially auditioned as solo artists.

Since it was shared, the Instagram post has received nearly 2.2 million likes. Fans are speculating about the possibility of a reunion or the release of a new album in the comments.

To commemorate the milestone moment, it was also announced that a new 1D anniversary website will be launched. The website will feature interactive and immersive experiences for fans.

Fans can also expect the release of a 10-year celebration video, which will document highlights from the band's career including behind-the-scenes footage, and an archive of music videos, artwork, and TV performances.

So far there is no confirmation on whether the five members will reunite for a show to celebrate the landmark anniversary.

The boyband announced their break in August 2015, five months after member Zayn Malik departed from the group.

Since the hiatus, all five artists have gone on to enjoy successful solo careers.

Most recently, Horan and Tomlinson both released albums this year (Heartbreak Weather and Walls, respectively). Payne released his debut solo album in 2019, while Styles followed his own self-titled debut with Fine Line in December.

Since forming in 2010, One Direction has accumulated a huge global fan base. The band has sold more than 200 million records worldwide and generated over 21 billion streams, with 3.6 billion of those being in 2019 alone.