LONDON // Zayn Malik has left One Direction, the world-famous boy band confirmed on Wednesday.
It comes ahead of the group’s concert at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai on April 4, the first time the English-Irish band will play in the Middle East.
The 32,000 plus tickets for the UAE leg of the group's On the Road Again tour sold out in record time.
In a statement Mr Malik said he’d like to “apologise to the fans if I’ve let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right”.
“My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined,” he said. “But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band.
One Direction, which is currently on a world tour, said it would continue with four members and would record a new album later this year.
“We’re really sad to see Zayn go, but we totally respect his decision and send him all our love for the future,” the band said in a statement.
Last week Mr Malik flew home from a tour stop in the Philippines, citing stress.
His departure from the tour came after he hit back at rumours of trouble in his relationship with fiancée Perrie Edwards of the girl band Little Mix.
Before his departure, authorities in the Philippines imposed a US$5,000 (Dh18,365) "weed bond" on Mr Malik and fellow band member Louis Tomlinson, with the money to be forfeited if either of them were caught using or promoting illegal drugs.
A video that circulated online last year appeared to show Mr Malik and Mr Tomlinson smoking cannabis and joking about drug use.
The next scheduled date on One Direction’s On the Road Again tour is in Johannesburg, South Africa on Saturday.
* Associated Press
