Zayn Malik

Early Life: 

Zayn Javadd Malik (born January 12, 1993), is a member of One Direction. Zayn was born in West Lane, Baildon, Bradford, England. He is of English and Pakistani descent. He was born to British-Pakistani father Yaser Malik and English mother Patricia. He has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa. He and his family are Muslim Zayn grew up in East Bowling, located south of the Bradford city centre.

He was a student at Lower Fields Primary School in East Bowling and went to Tong High School, a state comprehensive school.

Musical Career:

In 2010, when he was 17 years old, Zayn auditioned in Manchester for the seventh series of The X Factor.

He sang “Let Me Love You” by Mario. All three judges — Simon, Louis, and Nicole — gave him a ‘yes’. His audition was initially not broadcast, but was later shown on The X Factor.

Zayn was noted for becoming nervous in bootcamp. When he was told he had to dance, he decided to remain backstage, effectively running the risk of elimination. When Simon noticed Zayn missing from the dance routine, he went backstage to convince him to return. Later on, Zayn said it was a lack of confidence that caused him to run away.

Following The X Factor, One Direction signed a record contract with Sony Music subsidiary Syco Music. They released their studio album, Up all Night.

Trivia:

• Zayn’s birth name is actually spelled ‘Zain’. It wasn’t until The X Factor that he decided to change the spelling to ‘Zayn’ because he liked how it looked. He has still not legally changed the spelling.

External Links:

• @zaynmalik – Twitter