Biography

Zain Javadd Malik was born on January 12, 1993 in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom to Patricia ‘Tricia’ Brannan and Yasir Malik. His mother is English and Irish ancestry while his father is Pakistani. Growing up with his sisters Doniya, Waliyha, and Safaa, Malik found art at an early age as a way to focus his energy. His father introduced him to his R&B, hip-hop, and reggae records, where he would begin writing his own music. He joined choir at the age of nine, primarily to meet girls and a couple years later, he was interested in drama productions. Malik auditioned for the lead role of Danny Zuko in his school production of Grease, which he would inevitably win the role. Malik expressed that being able to disappear into a role for performances gave him a different way to express himself.

At 17, he was encouraged to audition for “The X-Factor”, and if it wasn’t for his mother, he wouldn’t have gotten out of bed for his audition. After failing to get through as a soloist, the judges decided to put Malik and four others into a male group. Quickly bonding, he, Harry, Liam, Louis, and Niall became fast friends before thinking about their band name or even if their voices would gel. After making it through boot camp, One Direction became a quick fan favorite on the show, getting them close to the final. Unfortunately, they were eliminated, taking third place, but because of the fanbase they had already found, judge Simon Cowell signed them to his label, Syco Records, as well as Columbia Records in North America. The group’s debut single “What Makes You Beautiful” shot up the charts around the world. When their debut album Up All Night was released, it hit the top of the charts in sixteen countries. They followed the album with a UK tour, in which their first live DVD, Up All Night: The Live Tour, was filmed. They had also added North American and Australian tour dates due to high demand.

Their second album Take Me Home hit number one in 35 countries with the help of the lead single “Live While We’re Young”. They headlined the Take Me Home Tour in 2013, expanding around the world. At the beginning of the tour, they would film their first feature film One Direction: This Is Us, which grossed $68.5 million at the box office. Giving sneak peeks of their new music in the film, “Best Song Ever” was the lead single in preparation of the release of their third album Midnight Memories. The album was the best-selling studio album of the year and “Best Song Ever” became the highest-charting single in the US to date. Malik and company decided to start co-writing more for the album, giving them more ownership of what they were recording. In 2014, they embarked on their sold out worldwide stadium tour, the Where We Are Tour, which became the highest-grossing tour of the year and 15th highest-grossing tour of all time. Their second concert film One Direction: Where We Are – The Concert Film would have a limited engagement release in October 2014. Their fourth consecutive number one album, Four was released in November, topping the charts in 18 countries. Malik put his stamp and say in a lot more of the album. Though unfortunately, that wasn’t enough to keep himself in the band.

In spring 2015, he would announce his departure from the group while just beginning the On The Road Again Tour. Malik has since opened up about his mental state while in the group, the unwillingness of producers to let him sing as he wanted on records, as well as his eating disorder due to their rigorous schedule. He returned home, and to his parent’s house, to decompress and figure out what he wanted to do next. That summer, Malik signed a solo record deal with RCA and began the next step in his career. Finding people who were willing to openly create with him was something he wanted, as he knew he wanted to write and sing about subjects he couldn’t in One Direction.

At the beginning of 2016, Malik’s debut solo track “PILLOWTALK” debuted at number one. He would go on to break records for the highest first-day and weekly streams for a debut artist with the record. His debut album Mind of Mine debuted at number one, making him the first British male solo artist to debut at the top of of the charts in both the UK and US. Primarily being an R&B album, it also showcased everything Malik is influenced by and loved to sing, which included singing in Urdu. After his first set of solo performances, he had developed a terrible amount of performance anxiety, which has kept him from performing since. Not being able to perform solo didn’t stop Malik from continuing to work on music, working on countless collaborations including a Chris Brown remix also featuring Usher, an EDM record with Snakehips, a popular collaboration with Sia, as well as recording the song “I Don’t Wanna Live Forever” with Taylor Swift for the Fifty Shades Darker soundtrack. His second studio album Icarus Falls was released in December 2017, containing the singles “Let Me”, “Entertainer”, “Sour Diesel”, “Still Got Time”, and his collaboration “Dusk Till Dawn” with Sia. The 27 song album generated positive reviews from critics, though it wasn’t as commercially successful as Mind of Mine.

In 2019, Malik would record a version of “A Whole New World” with Zhavia Ward for the live-action Aladdin soundtrack, in which they also filmed a music video for it. He recorded a bilingual version with Becky G titled “Un Mundo Ideal”, along with a full Spanish version with Aitana. Malik would later be featured on a remix of Shaed’s song “Trampoline”, followed by the EDM track “Flames” with Dutch DJ, R3hab and Jungleboi. Malik released his lead single “Better” from his third studio album Nobody is Listening in September 2020. The 11-song album released on January 15, 2021 and is described as his “most personal album to date.” He would also be featured on the Ingrid Michaelson song “To Begin Again” the same year. In September, Malik released three songs dubbed Yellow Tape via Dropbox, which showcased a different musical direction than the rest of his music previously.

2023 brought new management and recording contracts with United Talent Agency and Mercury Records. He graciously sat down with Alex Cooper for her podcast “Call Her Daddy”, which marked Malik’s first interview in six years. On July 21st, his first official single in two years “Love Like This” was released, followed closely by a remix featuring Mura Masa.

In 2017, he released the Giuseppe for Zayn capsule collection, a shoe line with Giuseppe Zanotti, the Italian footwear designer. He also modeled for the Versus Spring/Summer 2017 campaign. Donatella Versace appointed Malik as the creative director for a men’s and women’s capsule collection, Zayn X Versus, which became available in May 2017. The campaign photos were photographed by Gigi Hadid and modeled by Malik and Bella Hadid. He designed a line of backpacks for The Kooples and modeled for Penshoppe, as well as Martyre. Malik opened his own online store of apparel creations, Paynt By Zayn, consisting of apparel tops, backpacks, and accessories. He partnered with Arnette to create eco-friendly sunglasses in 2022. Malik’s newest venture came in 2023, where he became co-owner and CCO of Mixoloshe, a non-alcoholic beverage company.

Malik shares a daughter, Khai, with American model Gigi Hadid.