Niall Horran

Niall James Horan (born 13 September 1993 in Mullingar, County Westmeath, Ireland) was born to mother Maura and father Bobby, he has an older brother, Greg, 23, their parents divorced when he was five. He was a pupil at Coláiste Mhuire, a boys' Christian Brothers school. Prior to participating in X-Factor, he performed around his homeland, including as a support act for Lloyd Daniels in Dublin. Horan has been playing guitar since childhood. In an interview he referred to his guitar as "the best present I ever received for Christmas". Horan revealed his parents took note of his singing during a car trip, "my aunt said she thought the radio was on. Exactly the same thing happened to Michael Bublé with his dad. He's my absolute hero so I like the fact we have a similar story." In 2010, he auditioned as solo candidate for the seventh series of The X Factor, performing "So Sick", receiving mixed comments from the judges present at his audition, with Louis Walsh in his favour. Two other judges voiced doubts doubts on his abilities, with three votes out of four he was sent to bootcamp where he sang "Champagne Supernova", failing to qualify for the "Boys" category he was put in One Direction.