Zayn Malik has begun a new stage in his career as he just revealed last week that he has signed as a solo artist with record label RCA. But although he is no longer a member of One Direction, the 22-year- old music maker congratulated former bandmates Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne on their new single, "Drag Me Down," proving that there is no bad blood between him and them.
On Saturday, Aug. 1, Malik tweeted, "Proud of my boys the new single is sick. Big love."
On the same day, Hollywood Life reported that Malik was impressed with the track, with a source saying, "Zayn actually thinks the song is pretty good…He had a brotherhood with all of them for so long and he knows they are super talented and actually really likes the song."
"Drag Me Down" follows One Direction's November 2014 release, "Night Changes" — the last single that they recorded as a five-man group.
Back in March, Malik left the boy band while in the middle of the Asian leg of their world tour. In his statement, the former One Direction member said that he wanted to be "a normal 22-year old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight." Days after his shocking announcement, it was reported that Malik was embarking on a solo career.
Malik's signing with RCA records resulted to some mixed reactions from fans, with some congratulating him on his new endeavor, while others were offended when he included the hashtag "#realmusic" on his tweet. But one of his former band mates appeared to take no offense at the message, as Payne told Nick Grimshaw on the U.K.'s Radio 1 Monday that Malik making music on his own makes a lot of sense.
"One Direction was never Zayn's sort of music so he kind of always wanted to find something else," said Payne, as quoted by Billboard. "If you're heart's not into something you can't just carry on doing it because of fame and stuff. You have to go and do what you have to do."
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Zayn Malik and Perrie Edwards broke of their engagement two weeks ago. The Little Mix singer is reportedly devastated after the split. A source told People Magazine, "She's been putting on a brave face as Little Mix have had promotion to do, but she's obviously devastated."
