Niall Horan was "happy" to take the back seat in One Direction.

Niall Horan

Niall Horan

The 24-year-old singer might be topping the charts with his recently released solo material, but the Irish hunk admits he wasn't often the centre of attention when it came to the famous boy band - which was also comprised of Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne, and former member Zayn Malik - but he didn't mind because he was just happy to be part of the band.

He said: "Right at the start, I was 16 and very naive, so I was just like: 'Well, he's a better singer than me.' So I just took it.

"Back then I wasn't vocally trained and I'm quite realistic and carefree, so at the time I was just happy to be a part of the biggest bands in pop. I was happy to be anywhere that wasn't sitting in school!"

During the early days of fame for the 'History' hitmakers - who were put together on UK talent show 'The X Factor' - fans demanded Niall be given more of the spotlight, with the hashtag "#LetNiallSing".

And now the 'Slow Hands' singer is making a name for himself as a solo artist, he admits it feels as though he's starting his music career all over again.

He said: "It really does. With One Direction we played a show but this feels like I'm playing a gig. I've been in he music industry seven years and this is the first chance that I've got to have people actually stand and listen. It's a nice change."

Whether he's in One Direction or going solo, Niall insists he's "addicted" to music and playing on stage, and can't see himself quitting any time soon.

Speaking to The Sun on Sunday's Fabulous magazine, he said: "I'm addicted to the music and the buzz of walking on to the stage. I love being a part of the movement. As One Direction, we were part of that surge of British and Iris music with Adele and Ed Sheeran and Sam Smith. We were all doing it at he same time and it was class."

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