For weeks now, the five members of One Direction have been forced to confront the possibility of a reunion. Timing is to blame: 1D formed under the careful eye of Simon Cowell on The X-Factor UK 10 years ago and broke up six years later (five if you count Zayn Malik’s departure as the initial site of fracturing), making 2020 ripe for a reunion. That, paired with the fact that people are bored and sad during their indefinite period of social distancing, and the desire for Harry Styles and the boys to get back together is strong. He’s mentioned reunion talks in the past month but thinks a Zoom collab would be too lackluster for their legacy. I agree. Liam Payne and Niall Horan have been joking around about the topic on Instagram Live recently, too, but there’s been nothing evidential about a 1D homecoming. (In fact, all they’ve really revealed was that the five One Direction boys have a WhatsApp group chat, which I am astonished has not yet been hacked.)
Louis Tomlinson believes the reunion is inevitable, and Malik has stayed silent. The five of them haven’t been pictured together since their disbanding, so the reality of the situation is currently unknowable. I’m not sure why all of the gossip surrounding them would inspire other, less memorable boy bands to reunite, but that has been the result: Big Time Rush is back.
On Monday, the Los Angeles boy band got together for a brief virtual hangout to check in with their fans while the rest of the world wished One Direction would do the same. According to Billboard, Big Time Rush’s Carlos PenaVega signed off with, “See you guys soon,” inspiring a million theories that new music is on the horizon. My kingdom for Zayn Malik to utter those beautiful words.
As you probably don’t recall, Big Time Rush broke up in 2014. They formed on a Nickelodeon show of the same name in 2009 (consider them Y2k’s Monkees, but with a pop-rock sound like the Jonas Brothers and without the total ubiquity.) They called it quits not long after the series ended, and that was that. I enjoyed them—and the show—because I am a boy band fanatic, but I can’t help but question their thought process here. Getting together while the rest of the pop community has their fingers crossed for One Direction may not be the best move.