Zayn Malik অনুরাগী meltdown: One Direction becomes a cage 

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Zayn Malik fan meltdown: One Direction becomes a cage

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One Direction (L-R) Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles." class="pin-it-button pinteonclick=">Pin It

Fans in London react to 22-year-old Zayn Malik\'s decision to quit boy band One Direction.

Zayn Malik quits One Direction to be \'normal 22-year-old\'

After seeing the overwhelming reaction to Zayn Malik quitting One Direction, can you imagine what is going on in the minds of the four boys – because that is essentially what they are – left in the band?

Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan have to be worried. 

One Direction (L-R) Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Harry Styles.

A nasty cocktail of hormonal teen angst and social media\'s propensity to whip a breeze into a tornado has driven many of 1D\'s millions of young fans to hysteria, with claims of grief out of proportion to a young man deciding fame is no longer for him.

The band\'s nearly 23 million fans on Twitter, 36 million on Facebook and 8.1 million on Instagram are evidently not coping well with the news. On Twitter alone, over 4.7 million posts went out mentioning Malik in the 24 hours after the news broke on March 25.

As a comparison, Paper magazine\'s Kim Kardashian\'s so-called "break the internet" photos were retweeted about 8000 times, plus another 88,000 from Kanye West\'s account, on November 11, 2014.

Zayn Malik (centre) performing with One Direction at the American Music Awards last November.

Most One Directioners expressed sadness and even heatbreak; a healthy enough reaction for feelings of loss. The trending hashtag #AlwaysInOurHeartsZaynMalik seemed silly to non-fans, but to Directioners it reflected their grief. (It should be noted that whether perceived or actual, personal loss feels real to the person going through it; so anyone ghoulishly mocking these fans may be stepping on vulnerable people. Back off.)

However, many fans have gone too far, threatening and even claiming self-harm (several have posted disturbing photos), attacking each other and other groups of fans – Australian fans are being blasted for allegedly mocking Horan on the band\'s February tour – and even abusing the remaining members.

While posing for a band shot on Wednesday, Payne covered Zayn\'s face with his hand on a band photo, and fans reacted angrily.

One Direction\'s Liam Payne covers the face of former band member Zayn Malik at a photo call during the band\'s Asian tour.

Payne was moved to defend his actions urging fans to "chill out"; prompting further angst.

#makinglightofasituation sorry for the laughs guys pic.twitter.com/p9GyIMLALV — Liam (@Real_Liam_Payne) March 23, 2015

Anybody struggling to cope should call Lifeline 131114.

You can imagine the reaction for Ryan Ross, former Panic! At The Disco member, when someone trolled 1D\'s wikipedia page adding him as the newest member. Things got ugly for a while there, eventually eliciting an impressive retort from Ross. 

You guys got it all wrong, the four remaining members of One Direction are joining MY band — Ryan Ross (@thisisryanross) March 25, 2015

Teenager\'s hearts are breaking over news Zayn Malik has quit

Just five years into their careers, the very people who made One Direction the biggest pop act in the world are also responsible for turning the group into something of a prison;that means fans but also 1D\'s minders. Four hit albums (producing 50 million records sold), six tours with over 400 live shows plus countless promotional appearances in five years have to take a toll. Let\'s not forget the rapacious talent show mogul Simon Cowell – reportedly worth $700 million – continues to make a fortune out of 1D.

Indeed, One Direction is in the middle of a world tour; is it just me or does the tour name, On The Road Again, sound just a little jaded? The band has just finished its Asian leg in Jakarta (where Styles broke down on stage) and has taken three days off, before playing in Johannesburg on Saturday. The 61 gigs booked between now and November must seem a little daunting.

Sure, we shouldn\'t feel too sorry for them; they get paid better than most of us dare to dream. And becoming a four-piece means each member now gets an even bigger slice of earnings from future tours and recordings. However, given they are each already worth about $30 million, money is probably not their most pressing concern. 

Instead, it\'s likely they must feel like they have no freedom to make the same choice Malik did, fearing the consequences of hiatus or even a split on the jumpy fanbase.

Cowell seems less perturbed by the possibility of a break-up, conceding last August that 1D could split.

He was right. Boy bands, almost by definition, do not last forever, not the first time around anyway. \'N Sync split after seven years, Take That went for six years (but reformed nine years later in 2005). New Kids on the Block lasted a remarkable 14 years before splitting (and have recently reformed).

Young male pop stars clearly need time out to work out what they want and need; once having done so, they often eventually return to their gold mine, even if fans have outgrown them. However, getting to that point seems much more difficult in 2015 than it ever was.

Generally, boy bands follow a very similar path. The stratospheric success of albums 1, 2 and 3 (if they get that far) is followed by a tapering off thereafter as the band members grow up and start to understand how much of themselves they\'ve had to sacrifice to get that far. They want to make more "mature" music, which is precisely what their fans don\'t want, although by that time, their fans have started to move on anyway. Once the first member leaves, things happen pretty quickly thereafter and it\'s usually a race to see who releases a solo album first. It\'s at this point things get interesting, because then you discover which of them is the most talented or will be the most successful. While it was always obvious Justin was going to succeed out of N\'Sync, it wasn\'t so obvious it would be Robbie who would succeed out of Take That.

History tells us the "original" One Direction line up will reunite in probably 5-10 years time for a very lucrative tour (that is, if they are all still with us at that time).

Zayn is clearly the smartest of this cluey bunch. He\'s made his fortune and still has plenty of years ahead of him to disappear into relative obscurity along with his millions.

Good luck to him. Hope he starts work for a progressive cause he believes in.

Throw the Beatles, the Bay City Rollers too for relatively short years of stardom for "boy" bands. However, those two - and Take That, N\'Sync etc - never had to deal with the 24/7 pressure of social media. 1D have done well to last this long.

As a dad of a "Directioner" (One Direction fan), I feel some disappointment at Zane leaving too, knowing this is the probable end of something that had been very dear to her.

One Direction will never be the same. You can\'t replace a Beatle, a Spice Girl nor a 1D original.

The end of something is always disappointing. I imagine Harry Potter fans felt a similar letdown after #7. I understand why their fans are feeling the way they are.

Girls, cherish the special memories they gave you. In 20 years time, those memories will help you understand your own teenager and her boy band crush.

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