Zayn Malik Signed To Simon Cowell’s Label For Solo Album

It’s been a tumultuous couple of weeks for One Direction fans — Zayn Malik officially quit, the world speculated about who should replace him, and rumors started popping up that Harry Styles might follow suit. But don’t start burning your Zayn memorabilia just yet, we're happy to report that the British bad boy isn’t leaving music entirely. Instead, he’s reportedly signed with Simon Cowell’s label Syco Music, according to the NY Daily News. It’s important to note that One Direction is also signed with Simon’s label (he signed them after they all appeared on The X Factor in the UK), so Zayn is sort of keeping it in the family, if you will. Zayn’s solo debut won’t be released until 2016, says the NY Daily News, but he admitted in an interview with The Sun that he’s already started on collaborations with British producer Naughty Boy — the same producer who worked on Grammy winner Sam Smith’s "In the Lonely Hour." Now before you scoff at the idea of Zayn's solo venture being a success, boy bands have spawned some pretty great solo artists — Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson, Nick Jonas (okay, he’s getting there), and uh, Nick Carter — so, it's really not that far-fetched to think this career-shift will work out in Zayn's favor. So much for taking some private time out of the spotlight.