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was bron
Zayn Malik was born on January 12, 1993, in Bradford, England, to a family of English-Pakistani descent -
17 years old
In 2010, 17-year-old Malik auditioned in Manchester for the seventh series of reality-television competition The X Factor. He sang "Let Me Love You" by rhythm-and-blues vocalist Mario as his audition song and was accepted into the next round. -
pop song
One Direction topped the pop music charts with their first single, "What Makes You Beautiful," when it was released in September 2011 in the United Kingdom -
fans
Malik toured extensively with One Direction, meeting the band's young female fans around the world. -
engaged
Malik got engaged to Perrie Edwards, a singer with the group Little Mix. The pair had been dating for two years prior to their engagement -
left the group
who went on to become one of the most popular boy bands in music history. Malik left the group in March 2015 -
zayn
On March 25, however, Malik announced that he was leaving One Direction for good. In a statement on Facebook, he wrote "after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band