Liam Payne of One Direction Officially Goes Solo With New Record Deal

Liam Payne of One Direction recently confirmed that he has signed a solo deal with Capitol Records. But, despite working on a solo album, the British boy band member noted that One Direction will always be his family.

Payne made the announcement earlier today through his Twitter account, according to CNN. However, he did not go into detail regarding his plans for his upcoming album or when it will possibly come out.

Since it is now official that Payne will not be working with his One Direction mates Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles on his next project, rumors about the group breaking up have started to emerge. However, Payne reassured fans that the group is still very important to him.

"One direction will always be my home and family but I'm very excited to see what this chapter brings," he tweeted.

According to MTV, Payne may have started contemplating on working on his own album ever since One Direction went on hiatus. Last year, he said that he would like to use his break from the group to explore the other possible facets of his career.

Payne is the latest member of One Direction to land a solo record deal. Last June, Billboard reported that Styles signed a recording contract with Columbia Records. However, as noted by the site, the details of the deal are not yet clear but the album might contain the four songs written by Styles last year that were registered with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers.

Following the departure of Zayn Malik last year, it seems the remaining members of One Direction are now starting to explore their solo careers. Given the band's current status, it probably wouldn't come as a surprise if Horan and Tomlinson get their own record deals too.

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Liam Payne, One Direction