Made in the A.M.

Made in the A.M. is the fifth and final studio album by English-Irish boy band One Direction, released on 13 November 2015 by Columbia Records and Syco Music. It was the band's only album without Zayn Malik, who left the group in March 2015, the last to feature member Liam Payne due to his death in October 2024, and the last released before the group entered an indefinite hiatus in January 2016. It was the year's sixth best-selling album worldwide, with 2.4 million copies sold, and received generally favourable critical reviews.

The album was preceded by the three singles: "Drag Me Down", released on 31 July 2015; "Perfect", released on 16 October 2015; and "History", released on 6 November 2015. All three reached the top 10 in a number of national charts.

The album itself debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with 93,189 copies, and at number two (behind Justin Bieber's Purpose) on the US Billboard 200, with 459,000 album-equivalent units in its first week, including 402,000 pure album sales. Defying predictions that interest in boy-band albums was declining, its first-week sales topped the 387,000 sold by the band's previous album, Four. Made in the A.M. was the second fastest-selling album of 2015 in the UK, surpassed only by Adele's 25.

Release

The song that would be the album's lead single, "Drag Me Down", was released on 31 July 2015 with no previous promotion or warning. It debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, breaking the record for the most streamed song in its first week, with 2.03 million plays. In the United States, the song debuted at number three on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, with 350,000 downloads in its first week, earning the band their largest sales week ever. "Drag Me Down" also set a new Vevo record for most likes in 24 hours.