Also-rans to world's biggest boy band: the rise of One Direction

In only two short years, five boys thrown together on The X Factor have become global chart-toppers. How have One Direction achieved success so quickly?Fame in 2012 has a unique set of parameters. The British boy band One Direction have ticked off all the traditional markers of global success – a debut single that topped the UK charts, a debut album that topped the US Billboard charts, hordes of fans swarming over them at every public appearance, tabloids peppered with stories of bad-boy beh...

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