ZAYN MALIK

EARLY LIFE

Zayn Malik was born Zain Javadd Malik on 12 January 1993 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, to an immigrant Pakistani Muslim father, Yaser Malik, and a White British mother of English and Irish descent, Trisha Malik (née Brannan), who converted to Islam upon marriage. Malik has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa. He had an Islamic upbringing. Raised as a Muslim, Malik speaks English and Urdu and can read Arabic. Malik grew up in East Bowling, Bradford, in a working-class family and neighborhood.

EDUCATION

He attended Lower Fields Primary School and Tong High School (now Tong Leadership Academy) in Bradford. As a teenager, he took performing arts courses and appeared in school productions. Before beginning his music career, he intended to pursue an academic degree in English in hopes of becoming an English teacher.

MUSIC

He grew up listening to his father's urban music records, primarily R&B, hip hop, and reggae. He wrote raps when he was at school and sang on stage for the first time when singer Jay Sean visited his school. Malik also boxed for two years, from ages 15 to 17. In 2010, 17-year-old Malik auditioned in Manchester for the seventh series of reality television competition The X Factor. On the morning of the audition, Malik became nervous and did not want to attend, but his mother eventually forced him out of bed and coaxed him into going. He sang "Let Me Love You" by Mario as his audition song and was accepted into the next round. Upon auditioning for The X Factor, Malik stated that he was "looking for an experience". Despite being eliminated before the final round of the competition, judges Nicole Scherzinger and Simon Cowell grouped him with fellow competitors Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson to form a new act for the remainder of the show, the boy band that would become known as One Direction. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK, finished in third place, and was subsequently signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records recording contract. They signed in North America with Columbia Records. A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), released in February 2011 and topped The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK as part of the X Factor Live Tour.nThe group's debut studio album Up All Night was released in November 2011 in the UK and Ireland. Released internationally in March 2012, they became the first UK group to have their debut album reach number one in the United States. It topped the charts in 16 countries. The lead single, "What Makes You Beautiful", was an international commercial success, reaching number one in the UK and number four in the US; it has since been certified four and six times platinum in the US and Australia. But Zayn Malik left that English Irish pop boy band in March 2015 and proceeded with his career as a solo vocalist.

FASHION INDUSTRY

In 2016, Malik made his debut on The Business of Fashion's annual BoF500 index, which profiles the most influential people in fashion.

PUBLIC SERVICE

In May and June 2020, Malik expressed support for the Black Lives Matter movement by sharing links to petitions and donating to the George Floyd memorial fund.

RELATIONSHIP

Zayn was linked to supermodel Gigi Hadid. The couple welcomed their first child, Khai, together in 2020. They reportedly broke up in 2021 after sources said that Malik struck Hadid's mother.

NOMINATIONS & AWARDS

English singer Zayn has received 16 awards and 38 nominations. Among them, he has won an American Music Award, Billboard Music Award, iHeartRadio Music Award, and an MTV Video Music Award.

MERCH

Malik has just launched his new merch collection in 2022, saying in his tweet “PAYNT BY ZAYN is here. Excited to share the first-ever limited-edition merchandise collection that I designed from my paintings and artwork”