When doe-eyed teenager Zayn Malik first stepped onto the X Factor stage to sing Marios Let Me Love You in front of Simon Cowell, he looked every inch the pint-size pop star except for a nervousness that suggested he wasnt all that comfortable in front of the cameras. Failing to make the grade as a solo artist, he was thrown into a band with Niall, Liam, Louis and Harry and the rest is history. Yet with six million albums sold and several world tours under his belt, Malik destroyed the hearts of pre-teen girls everywhere when he quit the group in 2015, the bands songwriter Jamie Scott citing "endless touring" as the reason. Malik himself recently confirmed to Rolling Stone that he only went to the X Factor audition for the experience of performing in front of a crowd, claiming that he "never went with a master plan, thinking, "I want to be famous." He has stated in numerous recent interviews that hed like to continue working in the music industry in a backstage capacity such as songwriting or producing, making him yet another world famous star for whom the price of fame was more than he was willing to pay.
