One Direction’s Liam Payne signs with Capital Records UK

By: 8 years ago

FILE - This is a Friday, Dec. 12, 2014 file photo of One Direction singer Liam Payne as he performs with the group, on stage during the ceremony of the '40 Principales Awards 2014' at Palacio de los Deportes in Madrid, Spain. One Direction fans are seeing the writing on the wall as singer Liam Payne announced Friday July 22, 2016 that he has signed a record deal with Capitol Records UK after the boy band said last year they were taking a break. (AP Photo / Abraham Caro Marin, File)

One Direction singer Liam Payne. AP

LONDON — One Direction fans are seeing the writing on the wall as singer Liam Payne announced he has signed a record deal with Capitol Records UK after the boy band said last year they were taking a break.

Payne said Friday he is “really happy” to have signed with Capitol Records UK.

“One Direction will always be my family,” he said. “I’m now excited to show what I can do as a solo artist.”

The band had announced a hiatus after touring with their fifth album.

One Direction formed in 2010 after five teenagers — Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Payne, Harry Styles and Zayn Malik — auditioned individually for British TV talent show “The X Factor.” Malik quit the chart-topping group in 2015. TVJ