Ever since One Direction entered the spotlight, Harry Styles has often been considered to be the frontman, the one who would break-out into a solo career leaving his bandmates behind. But that notion was disabused when Zayn Malik charted to the top of the US singles charts, a feat that the others have not been able to replicate. And now another one has sprinted ahead of Styles in popularity, well at least on twitter. Niall Horan, the lone Irishman in the band has taken his Social media crown.

Niall Horan leads 1D in Twitter followers

The gap isn’t that wide though, Niall Horan currently boasts 31 million followers on Twitter while Harry Styles has 30.9 million. The other 1D boys are far away, in third place is Louis Tomlinson with 25.3 million, then Liam Payne with 25.1 million, while Zayn Malik is last with 22.3 million.

The story is different in Instagram where Zayn reigns supreme with 23.1 million, Harry Styles is second with 21.2 million,  and Niall Horan is third with 19.5 million. Both daddies in the group are behind, with Liam Payne at 13.8 million and Louis Tomlinson at 13. 3 million.

It is also worth noting that Niall Horan is the only One Direction member to have reached number one on the Billboard’s Social 50, when he released his debut single “This Town.” The chart measures the real time influence of a musical artist in social media at a given week, counting the addition of fans and followers on major social media platforms as well as streaming numbers.  

Horan is currently going from strength to strength, his debut single “This Town” reached the Top 20 in the Billboard 100, and his follow up “Slow Hands” peaked at one slot below at 21. Both singles have also charted higher in other territories, reaching the top ten and top 3 in several different countries.

When will Niall Horan’s album drop?

There is no confirmed date when Niall Horan will drop his album, but he has said that it may arrive in October or November. He is also due to embark on his first solo world tour, which kicks off August 29 in his native Ireland.