Niall Horan

Niall Horan was actually born Niall James Horan on September 13, 1993 in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland. He was into music from young age and used to perform in school plays and sing in the school choir. During his time as a pupil in Christian Brothers School Colaiste Mhuire, he participated in the institution's talent show, singing The Script's "The Man Who Can't Be Moved", but lost. Persistently performing around his homeland, he subsequently won a local competition with a cover of Chris Brown's "With You" and in 2009 he landed a supporting performance for Lloyd Daniels, the youngest act in "The X Factor" of the year, in Dublin.

The following year, Niall auditioned for "The X Factor", covering hit singles "I'm Yours" and "So Sick" and was accepted to the next round. He failed to make it to the final and thus was evicted from the TV talent competition, but was later re-called with four other rejected singers Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Zayn Malik to be put together in a band called One Direction. Finishing third at the show, the boys were later signed to Simon Cowell's record label Syco. The band's debut single "What Makes You Beautiful" successfully peaked at number one in the UK, and won Best British Single at the 2012 Brit Awards. Their first album "Up All Night" also topped charts in both UK and US, making the boys the first UK group to debut at No.1 in the US Billboard charts. Their follow-up albums, "Take Me Home" (2012) and "Midnight Memories" (2013), were chart-topping as well.