‘What Makes You Beautiful’, the Song that Catapulted One Direction Was Born in a Hotel Room

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On September 11, 2011, One Direction embarked on a unique adventure that would change their lives forever. The boyband formed by Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson released the debut single of their entire career: «What Makes You Beautiful (WMYB).» It was their first original song released since their time on The X Factor just a year prior, where they finished in third place, behind Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle – second and first place, respectively.

The song was composed by Carl Falk, Rami Yacoub, and Savan Kotecha. The latter, an American composer and music producer, co-responsible for other notable hits like Ariana Grande’s «Break Free,» Demi Lovato’s «Cool for the Summer,» Ellie Goudling’s «Love Me Like You Do,» and The Weeknd’s «Can’t Feel My Face.»

The single was a total hit. It topped charts in various countries, including the United Kingdom, where it also won Best British Single at the 2012 Brit Awards. That same year, they won the Teen Choice Award for Best Love Song and two MTV VMAs for their music video, filmed in Malibu, California (USA), and directed by John Urbano: it won awards for Best Pop Video and Most Shared Video.

Its success has endured over time, even after the group’s breakup in 2015, as its former members continued to perform it in their solo shows. For instance, Harry Styles’ Love on Tour included this song in his setlist. To illustrate its lasting impact, one of the latest milestones achieved by WMYB is surpassing one billion streams on digital platforms.

A Hotel room, the Perfect Place for Inspiration

Kotecha shared in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter that the British boyband’s debut single emerged from a conversation he had with his wife in a hotel room in London. «I had the melody of the chorus for a year until I was in a hotel room with my wife, who was having a bad morning. She was saying, ‘I feel so ugly,’ and I was replying, ‘No, you look beautiful. You don’t know how beautiful you look.’ So I thought, ‘That’s a good song! Wait…’ and I wrote it,» he recounted.

He added, «The truth is, I wrote the song for my wife, so I went to the studio, where the process took a couple of weeks to tweak it, but the core was written in two days and then a few touch-ups here and there over a couple of weeks. I still have a text message from Styles. When he heard the demo, he was on his way to Miami from Sweden, and he sent me the following: ‘I think you’ve got it. I think you’ve got the best (debut song).’ I still keep it.»

Malibu Beach, a Location You’ve Seen Before

As mentioned in the opening paragraphs, the music video for «What Makes You Beautiful» was filmed on one of the beaches in Malibu, California. The shoot took place over two days in July. The video begins with the five young protagonists traveling to the location in an orange camper van. There, they play in the sand, wet their feet at the shore, and try to convince the viewer — in this case, their fans — that they are beautiful.

At one point, a group of girls arrives at the beach. Harry, during a segment of the song, sings directly to Madison McMillin. In the end, both groups sit around a campfire, light flares, and take photos of the evening.

However, did you notice that this location had already appeared in another popular music video? If you’re a fan of American punk from the 2000s, you’ve probably heard Blink-182’s «All The Small Things.» The band, composed at that time of Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge, and Travis Barker, decided to parody the boybands of the late 90s and early 2000s, like Backstreet Boys and N’SYNC.

The American trio used the same camera shot from the beaches of Malibu: A prediction of what 1D’s future would be?

Article originally published by Ana Escobar Rivas in Los40.com