On Thursday (September 29th), One Direction’s Niall Horan released his debut solo single “This Town”.
Horan surprised fans by tweeting out a link to the video for the acoustic song, writing, “Been workin in the studio, wanted to share this song I just wrote with u guys,” he wrote. “Thank you for always being there.”
Directioners were there to support Horan immediately, so much so that his single hit No. 1 on the real-time Billboard + Twitter Trending 140 chart. It remained there for six hours.
What a day today was ! Can’t believe the reaction. Crazy shit !! Celebrating with a beer
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) September 30, 2016
Got people coming Upto me on the street just saying how much they like the song . Really means a lot to me .
— Niall Horan (@NiallOfficial) October 1, 2016
“If the whole world was watching I’d still dance with you,” he sings. “Them butterflies they come alive when I’m next to you, over and over the only truth, everything comes back to you.”
The newly solo singer expressed his enthusiasm about his music career, stating, “I’m excited to announce I have signed a record deal with Capitol Records USA and released my first solo song,” he said. “Thank you to all the One Direction fans for your love and support as always. I’m looking forward to the next part of this journey together.”
Be on the lookout for a collaboration with Shawn Mendes, as the two are said to be working on creating some new material together.
Listen to the stripped-down performance of “This Town” below:
His former One Direction members took to Twitter to send their congratulations to the solo singer.
@NiallOfficial Ahhh, a lovely tune my friend. Congratulations. H
— Harry Styles. (@Harry_Styles) September 29, 2016
Feeling super proud @NiallOfficial . You sound great ! Great to see you at your bday bash!!
— Louis Tomlinson (@Louis_Tomlinson) September 29, 2016
@NiallOfficial good luck boss give him all your support huge day for him proud of you boss 🙌🏼
— Liam (@LiamPayne) September 29, 2016