It's been more than seven years since One Direction released their breakthrough hit "What Makes You Beautiful," and now the song's video has surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube -- the group's first video to reach the milestone.
One Direction -- originally consisting of members Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles and Niall Horan -- got their start after X Factor judge Simon Cowell put the solo competitors into a group together. "What Makes You Beautiful" was One Direction's debut single from their first album, Up All Night, and it peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in 2012.
The corresponding music video just surpassed 1 billion views on YouTube as of Tuesday (Nov. 6), marking the boy band's first video to reach the record. Released in 2011, the video features the boys spending a day at the beach in Malibu. In 2012, the video ended up winning the group two MTV Music Video Awards -- best pop video and most share-worthy video, while they also took home the Moonman for best new artist.
In January 2016, the group announced a hiatus, which eventually became a permanent split. The news came less than a year after Malik's decision to leave the group in March 2015 to pursue his solo career. Now, all members of the group have released debut solo albums except for Louis Tomlinson, who is reportedly working on his first project now.
Zayn's career took off when his debut single, "Pillowtalk," debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 in 2016. The music video for his 2017 single "Dusk Till Dawn," featuring pop singer Sia, hit more than 1 billion views on YouTube earlier this year, making him the first 1D alum to hit the 1B mark.
Check out One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful" video below to soak up some nostalgia for the boy band's early days and reflect on how far they've all come.
