| 1 | A spokesman for One Direction has declined to comment on a report that the chart-topping boy band will take an indefinite break starting in March. |
| 2 | Publicist Simon Jones said he wouldn't comment on "speculation." |
| 3 | The Sun newspaper reported Monday that band members would go separate ways for at least a year after finishing a tour this autumn and promoting their fifth album. |
| 4 | One Direction formed in 2010 after five teenagers - Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik -- auditioned individually for the British TV talent show "The X Factor." |
| 5 | Simon Cowell had the idea of putting them together as a boy band, and they became one of Britain's most successful musical exports. |
| 6 | Speculation about a split grew after Malik quit the group earlier this year, but the other members said they planned to continue as a quartet. |
| 7 | One Direction is currently on the North American leg of a tour that is due to end Oct. 31 in Sheffield, England. |