One Direction fans get 'big love' from band members on 8th anniversary

One Direction fans got a rare gift from the band members when the official Twitter handle of the pop boy band posted a sweet message to celebrate the eight-year anniversary.

The band that basically launched the solo careers of members Harry Styles, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Louis Tomlinson, split after Malik decided to quit being a team.

Remaining members kept the momentum going with another album, Made in the AM. while Malik debuted his solo album Mind of Mine. Short after the album release, the band announced an open-ended hiatus. Styles and Horan launched their solo albums Harry Styles and Flicker respectively. Payne and Tomlinson delivered some chart-topping singles and are working on their own albums.

A whole lotta history... this Monday is an important anniversary for the guys, it’s been #8YearsofOneDirection

To celebrate, it's time to relive all the hits this weekend by streaming the official playlist and tweeting which tracks you are listening to https://t.co/H09htTye18 pic.twitter.com/Pus8wudY7T

— One Direction (@onedirection) July 20, 2018

The One Direction handle has since been tweeting lyrics of other fan-favourite tracks.

Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson also took time out to wish their fans on Twitter.

#8YearsOfOneDirection Where has the time gone!? Thank you so much to every single person who’s ever supported us. Big love!

— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) July 23, 2018

#8YearsOfOneDirection what an incredible 8 years it’s been with my brothers! Thank you to all the fans that are still supporting and following our journeys. Love LP

— Liam (@LiamPayne) July 23, 2018

#8YearsfOneDirection Wow! 8 years of amazing memories with the lads . Thank you so much for standing by us for all this time.

— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) July 23, 2018

But sadly there was not a peep from Styles and Malik. Styles just wrapped his world tour while Malik is gearing up to launch his yet untitled second album.

These five talented singers became a band when they auditioned for reality talent show X-Factor. Judge Simon Cowell played a big part in forming the band that was second-runner up that season behind first runner-up Rebecca Ferguson and winner Matt Cardle.

One Direction went on to record five albums and garnered millions of fans all over the world.