Zayn Malik's departure from One Direction has caused a lot of emotions among the group's fanbase. There's anger. There's confusion. But mostly, there's sadness. Fans feeling nostalgic for the singer's sweet vocals started buying up the boy band's albums, according to Billboard, giving the group a nice spike in sales.
Nielsen points out that 1D's newest effort, Four, received a 51 percent bump in sales. It also made the jump from 41 to 33 on the Billboard 200. The deluxe edition is number 46 on the iTunes top albums list.
Even more interesting is the fact that the group's previous three albums re-entered the Billboard 200. The group's 2013 release, Midnight Memories, hit 110 while 2012's Take Me Home climbed back to 187. Up All Night, the group's 2011 debut, squeaked in at 192.
Memories received a 72 percent sales increase, Take Me Home jumped 95 percent, and Up All Night was lifted 113 percent following Malik's exit.
The split wasn't as good to Malik though, at least social media-wise. The singer lost 50,000 followers a few days after leaving the group. Fans apparently were unhappy when producer Naughty Boy posted a new solo Malik track titled "I Won't Mind." Fans were under the impression that the artist was taking some time off.
i will scREAM if zayn is really working on an album with naughty boy bc that totally defeats the purpose of why he left one direction
— k loves h (@nashtonxstyles) March 27, 2015
so you have been to the studio, looked for a new house, and now on a vacation but you don't have time to say a word to your fans? @zaynmalik — ARIEL (@lightskinzayn) April 2, 2015
"I just want a normal life... and my solo career" - Zayn Malik — Dean Dobbs (@DeanDobbs) April 2, 2015
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