Music mogul Simon Cowell has announced a search for a new boyband, nearly a decade after his global phenomenon One Direction ended. The campaign launched in London with a billboard featuring Cowell evoking Lord Kitchener’s 1914 recruitment poster, urging: “Simon needs you! Future megastars wanted for new boyband. No time wasters.” Cowell acknowledged “a high degree of risk” in the venture, given that few groups have achieved lasting success since One Direction's peak.
Auditions are set to begin in Newcastle on 4 July, followed by Liverpool, Dublin and London. Cowell said: “Every generation deserves a megastar boyband and I don’t think there has been one to have the success of One Direction in over 14 years.” He added that the project could also serve “as a brilliant launchpad for a solo career,” highlighting Harry Styles’ post-One Direction success.
The British pop landscape has seen several failed attempts since One Direction. Rak-Su won The X Factor in 2017 under Cowell’s mentorship but faded after a No 2 debut single. SVN, CuteBad and Unperfect all stalled in recent years. Flo, who won the Brit Rising Star award in 2023, saw their follow-up single Fly Girl spend just one week in the Top 40. No Guidnce have a huge TikTok following but have yet to chart in the UK Top 100.
Cowell has a mixed record with groups. He signed Westlife, who scored 13 No 1 singles, and Five with 11 Top 10 hits. But he has also overseen failures such as the Latin boyband CNCO formed via TV show La Banda in 2015, who found success only in Spanish-speaking markets. Cowell’s previous X Factor winners Little Mix went on hiatus in 2022, leaving no clear successors.
Despite the risks, Cowell remains a dominant figure in UK pop. He signed Robson & Jerome, who had two of the three biggest selling singles of 1995, and helped arrange the Grenfell Tower charity single. His new search marks another attempt to revive the boyband format, which has struggled since the 1990s heyday of Take That and East 17.
