Zayn Malik Stuns Fans With 'One Direction' Song After Liam Payne's Death
Zayn Malik stunned One Direction fans in 2015 when he announced his sudden departure from the band – the first domino in the band's eventual breakup a year later. Now, almost a decade later, he stunned fans by performing a One Direction song at one of his concerts.
At the time, Malik made it clear that he wanted to pursue his own career and was not always a fan of the musical direction of the boy band, which obviously pumped out pop hits. Instead, Zayn pursued a much more R&B style with his solo work.
Since the breakup, all four of the other members of the band have performed One Direction songs during their live performances, including Grammy-winning artist Harry Styles, who still regularly performs the hit song "What Makes You Beautiful." But that's not something Zayn had ever worked into his performances – until Wednesday night.
On Thursday night, Zayn took the stage in Mexico City for his first-ever sold-out arena show as a solo artist, and he stunned fans by beginning the show with his solo rendition of the One Direction song "Night Changes."
¡SORPRESA! #ZaynMalik canta #NightChanges en su primera noche después de 10 años ????#ZaynMalikEnOye #Oye897fm #Mexico pic.twitter.com/eFp8O2JrT3
— Oye 89.7 (@Oye897) March 26, 2025
Needless to say, fans were completely stunned.
"zayn malik opening his first ever sold out arena with night changes wasn’t on my 2025 bingo card," one fan wrote in a post on X.
"zayn malik and night changes – someone up there definitely heard our prayers," someone else added.
"Unexpected but absolutely iconic!" another fan commented.
"this isn’t just music, this is a full-on emotional flashback to 2014," someone else added.
"full body chills and I’m not even lying," another person wrote.
This, of course, comes just a few months after the death of one of Zayn's One Direction bandmates, as Liam Payne passed away in October after falling off of a hotel balcony in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Zayne attended the funeral in November and paid tribute to Liam to open the first show of his tour, projecting a message onto the back of the stage that read "Liam Payne, 1993-2024. Love you bro."