--- description: The song arrives one week before the release of the band's fifth studio album, 'Made in the A.M.' title: One Direction Drops Single 'History,' Featuring Singing Fans image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66cbc4e6552e127e/698867a1f887dc5bcce92cbd/one-direction.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # One Direction Drops New Single 'History,' Featuring Fans in the Chorus by [Lucy Wang](/author/lucy-wang/) ## Lucy Wang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2015 10:13 PM CUT  (L-R) Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction perform on "Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series" in New York City on Aug. 4, 2015. (L-R) Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction perform on "Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series" in New York City on Aug. 4, 2015.Debra L Rothenberg—FilmMagic/Getty Images by [Lucy Wang](/author/lucy-wang/) ## Lucy Wang Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 6, 2015 10:13 PM CUT One Direction has unleashed a crooning, bittersweet anthem called “History” one week before the Nov. 13 release date of the band’s album _Made in the A.M_. It’s the [third](http://time.com/3979983/one-direction-drag-me-down/ "undefined") [single](http://time.com/4067969/one-direction-perfect/ "undefined") since Zayn Malik left the band and features claps, acoustic guitars and, according to Niall Horan, a chorus of singing fans. Following a tumultuous half-year in which the five-member team lost Malik and [announced an “extended hiatus,”](http://time.com/4007938/one-direction-split-break-up-hiatus/ "undefined") the new single can be interpreted as a celebration of the British boy band’s five-year journey alongside its fans. “Actually, \[longtime One Direction producer Julian Bunetta\] and I brought some fans in the studio to record the chorus as like a crowd vocal,” [Horan wrote on Twitter](https://twitter.com/NiallOfficial/status/662681002024804352 "undefined"). “So this song is really YOURS.” > [](https://twitter.com/NiallOfficial/status/662681002024804352) _Made in the A.M._ is the fifth and last studio release before the band goes on hiatus in 2016. “More than anything, the song is about the way the fans and everyone have created this massive thing — One Direction — over the past five years,” Liam Payne [told EW](http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/06/one-direction-history-liam-payne-closure "undefined"). “Out of \[‘History’\] comes a little bit of closure for this chapter of One Direction.” Listen to “History” below. \[spotify id=”spotify:album:1a3jTiphSEfpKfZgFFQw35″ width=”595″ height=”80″ /\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4103524/one-direction-history-single-fans/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4103524/one-direction-history-single-fans/"},"headline":"One Direction Drops New Single 'History,' Featuring Fans in the Chorus","datePublished":"2015-11-06T22:13:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:25:31.446Z","description":"The song arrives one week before the release of the band's fifth studio album, 'Made in the A.M.'","url":"https://time.com/4103524/one-direction-history-single-fans/","keywords":["Music"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66cbc4e6552e127e/698867a1f887dc5bcce92cbd/one-direction.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Lucy Wang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/lucy-wang/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt66cbc4e6552e127e/698867a1f887dc5bcce92cbd/one-direction.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"(L-R) Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction perform on \"Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series\" in New York City on Aug. 4, 2015.","caption":"(L-R) Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson of One Direction perform on \"Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series\" in New York City on Aug. 4, 2015.","creditText":"Debra L Rothenberg—FilmMagic/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4103524/one-direction-history-single-fans/","name":"One Direction Drops New Single 'History,' Featuring Fans in the Chorus"}}]}] ```