Five hours ago news broke that ended yet another beloved boy band, or at least what we knew it to be. After half a decade together boyband One Direction brought us ‘midnight memories’ and illustrated the ‘story of our lives’ with brilliant lyricism, and with five unique personalities they made the whole world fall in love with them. But with their new world so too came the resignation of token bad boy Zayn Malik, and fans were left broken-hearted as the five member band was left with only four—ironically the title of their latest album.

“My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined. But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band” Malik says. “I’d like to apologize to the fans if I’ve let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right in my heart.”

While the resignation didn’t come as quite as big of a shock for die-hard Directioners, who have seen Malik step out of performances in recent weeks while management indicated that he needed a break, the timing does seem to be a bit out of the blue considering that the band just began the next leg of their world tour promoting their newest album “Four”. Five years ago the boys started their whirlwind careers when all five members auditioned for the British television show “The X Factor”. But with ample success and hoards of fans around the world, Malik amongst the other boys has found that trying to keep certain parts of himself private is a task unlike anything he has challenged before.

With a very public relationship and engagement to singer Perrie Edwards, Malik has sought to keep portions of his life private. And in order to return back to the life he had before he has asked to leave the band, though we doubt that things will ever be quite the same as they were before.

“I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight” Malik says. “I know I have four friends for life in Louis, Liam, Harry and Niall. I know they will continue to be the best band in the world.”

The four remaining members and their manager, Simon Cowell, have said that even with the departure of Zayn they still plan to move forward with the band, and hope that fans will continue to support them in the new direction the band is headed. Though they will be missing one of the key members that made them One Direction to begin with, fans can rest assured that the music will keep on coming and the boys will keep bringing their antics to the world.

“We’re really sad to see Zayn go, but we totally respect his decision and send him all our love for the future. The past five years have been beyond amazing, we’ve gone through so much together, so we will always be friends” the boys of One Direction said in a press release issued today when the news went public. “The four of us will now continue. We’re looking forward to recording the new album and seeing all the fans on the next stage of the world tour.”

One Direction

Will One Direction Be the Same with the Loss of Zayn Malik?

Well, the short answer is no. Of course One Direction will not be quite the same without one of their five players, but while they will be missing the melodies and high notes of Zayn’s smooth voice, the brilliance of the band is that they are all stars in their own right. And given that producers and their music writers have shifted in the direction of highlighting each one of the boys’ individual talents in each of their songs, it is reasonable to say that we will still see the same one direction, even if they take on a slightly new sound.

The four remaining members: Liam, Harry, Niall and Louis, will undoubtedly have to pick up the slack, but while what Zayn brought to the group was unique, each of the boys shares equally impressive talents. What we hope is that the music will continue to highlight each of the boys, with Louis taking the high notes, and that both the band and Zayn will continue to flourish in whatever endeavors they pursue. Because beneath it all, the world secretly roots for boybands, and it’d be lovely to keep them all in our lives—one way, or another