Harry Styles posted an emotional tribute to One Direction on Thursday to celebrate the band’s tenth anniversary, and it quickly broke the internet. The Watermelon Sugar singer shared a pic of the band on stage standing in a huddle in front of thousands of screaming fans, and in the caption he reflected on the last ten years.
It was the fastest tweet to reach one million likes in Twitter history, doing so in a little over an hour. On Instagram, it only took Styles eight minutes to reach a million.
[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CC_NoNtnQpb/?utm_source=ig_embed&utm_campaign=loading[/embed]“I’ve been struggling to put into words how grateful I am for everything that’s happened over the last ten years. I’ve seen things and places that I’d only ever dreamt of when I was growing up,” wrote Styles.
The singer explained that being part of One Direction allowed him the pleasure of meeting and working with some of the most incredible people, and he has also gained friendships that he will treasure for the rest of his life. He admitted that none of it would have been possible without the support of the fans.
“And for that, I will be forever thankful. I just can’t believe it’s been ten years. Thank you to our crew, our team, and everyone else who helped us along the way. To all the fans, I love you, and I thank you with all my heart. You did it all, and you changed everything,” wrote Styles.
He ended his message with a special message directed to his bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and former bandmate Zayn Malik – fueling hopes for a reunion.
“And finally.. to the boys, I love you so much, and I couldn’t be prouder of everything we achieved together,” wrote Styles. “Here’s to ten. H.”
Payne also posted a message to fans along with a photo of an old text that he sent to his dad exactly ten years ago. The text simply read “I’m in a boy band” and the timestamp read “23 Jul. 2010 08:09 PM.”
[embed]https://twitter.com/LiamPayne/status/1286198451466915841?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw[/embed]“What a journey… I had no idea what we were in for when I sent this text to my Dad ten years ago at this exact time the band was formed. Thanks to everyone that’s supported us over the years and thanks to the boys for sharing this with me #10YearsOfOneDirection,” wrote Payne.
Both Styles’ and Payne’s posts have received millions of likes and shares, and they also prompted “to the boys” to trend worldwide on Twitter for hours.
Simon Cowell created One Direction during the seventh series of UK’s X-Factor after all five band members auditioned as solo artists. To celebrate, the band launched an anniversary website that features playlists, music videos, TV performances, and behind-the-scenes content.