Simon Cowell regrets not owning One Direction’s name, will create new boy band

Simon Cowell and One Direction | Images: Instagram/@simoncowell, @onedirection

Simon Cowell is hesitant about One Direction’s reunion, as he affirmed that he regrets not taking “ownership” of the boy band’s name.

He told The Diary of a CEO that his one big regret is not owning the group’s name, which would have allowed him to do other projects related to the boy band.

“One thing I regret is that I should have kept the name. I should have owned the name. I could have made an animation or whatever, but when you give an artist the name, it’s not yours,” he added. 

Cowell helped form One Direction, which signed a contract with the former’s record label after placing third in the seventh series of the British televised singing competition “The X Factor” in 2010.

However, the band members – Harry Styles, Zayn, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson – own the rights to the group’s name, so Cowell is not allowed to use it for any project without the boys’ permission.

The “X Factor UK” judge hinted that if he owned the rights to the name, a One Direction reunion tour would be possible without each member’s approval.

“If one of the band members, for whatever reason, says they don’t want to tour, it can stop the others from touring. So, if it was me who owned the name, it wouldn’t be a problem,” he explained.

After Zayn’s exit from the group in 2015, One Direction disbanded the following year, and the rest of the members went on to pursue solo singing careers.

Meanwhile, Cowell recently announced that he’s set to hold auditions for his next boy band in July, as he affirmed that “there hasn’t been a good boy band since One Direction.”

“The only way I know to put a band together is if somebody has to audition them. And so, we just thought, ‘If I don’t do it this year, I’m going to really regret it, so let’s just do it,’” said the Britain’s Got Talent judge.