Recently Zayn Malik announced he was departing boy-band quintet One Direction.
Millions of girls around the world screamed in devastation and shock.
From The Beatles to NSYNC to Jonas Brothers to One Direction, boy bands have been around for a long time.
New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys even came back and decided to go on a tour together in 2011-12.
It’s the circle of life. As long as teenage girls are around with a cult-like attention span, boy bands are going to exist forever.
Forever.
Many people have opinions on how they feel about boy bands. I, personally, like them.
Boy bands bring back a lot of memories for me – even now at 21.
My sister’s favorite boyband when she was a teen was NSYNC. Her obsession became my first exposure to the phenomenon.
In my teen years, the Jonas Brothers were my favorite boy band. Nick was my favorite. Where had he been all my life?
I would listen to the band’s music constantly on repeat. I had posters all over my bedroom walls. I attended at least four Jonas Brothers concerts.
Obsessed.
Looking back now, I realize how much boy bands can have an effect on girls. Some girls take it to the extreme to the point where boy bands basically consume their life.
When boy bands break up or a band member leaves, the fans are heartbroken.
When girls found out about Zayn leaving “1D,” girls were cutting themselves because of how upset they were.
#CuttingForZayn became a trend on Twitter. Not only is that going too far, that’s dangerous.
Nothing will change by self-harming yourself, so why do it? It may be sad, but life goes on.
It’s just a boy band.
Later on, there was some controversy on Twitter about Malik planning to go solo.
Nothing has yet been confirmed, but there was a leaked demo of a new song of his called “I Won’t Mind.”
Although Zayn may not be with the band, fans should look on the bright side that he may be making music still.
Boy bands such as NSYNC and the Jonas Brothers have had where band members who went solo and have had success as well.
Justin Timberlake is still making music as a solo artist. Nick Jonas released an album this year and his single “Jealous” is a huge hit.
With “1D” breaking up, they have now left the door open for the next boy band to take it’s place and bring on a different phenomenon for the next generation of young teenage girls to go gaga over.
Hopefully, some who think it hurts when a boy band splits up, there is always a new group right around the corner to become your next fascination.
