Us Weekly is reporting the permanent break up of the U.K. boy band One Direction. The news comes after a five-month hiatus and the departure of beloved member Zayn Malik almost a year ago.
Beyond breaking fans’ hearts, One-D also is a money making machine. Forbes ranks the group No. 1 on its list of the world’s highest-paid celebrities under 30. The four band members pulled in $130 million in 2015.
But One Direction is not the only boy band rumored to be breaking up. The Japanese group SMAP, widely-known there as music and television stars, also appears to have parted ways. The break-up, if true, ends an almost three-decade reign of one of the most popular J-pop bands.
Here & Now’s Robin Young gets the details on both groups from Jeff Benjamin, features editor at Fuse.tv and K-pop columnist at Billboard.
Songs In This Segment
- “The Best Song Ever” by One Direction
- “Story of My Life” by One Direction
- “Lion Heart” by SMAP
Guest
- Jeff Benjamin, features editor at Fuse.tv and K-pop columnist at Billboard. He tweets @Jeff__Benjamin.
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