The guys of One Direction will forever have a whole lot of history not only with each other, but with the entire world. Together, Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and for five of those reigning years Zayn Malik, ruled the music world, breaking records left and right, selling out stadiums legit in every part of the world they travelled to. They ultimately redefined what it meant to be a boy band. Yes, they were put together on X Factor but 1D always played by its own rules, something Louis just recently opened up about.

In a new interview with Highsnobiety, Louis was asked if he ever thinks about the band’s legacy and he spoke about how the fact that they were all five unique personalities who did what they wanted, remaining true to themselves is what made them stand out. He went on to say that when it comes to more typical boy bands, they would often blindly do what everyone told them, including cover up their personal lives.

“I do think about it, and I’m still blown away by what we achieved. But also what the fans helped us achieve in such a short space of time. I can only speak for what we were, and what I see more of now in the industry, but boy bands in particular had a certain stereotype – sync’ed dance routines, all wearing the same clothes, people hiding that they had girlfriends and pretending to be single etc. From day one we tried to be very honest and not take ourselves too seriously,” Louis explained. “I think we demonstrated that as a band you don’t have to do everything by the book and hopefully, to a certain degree, that takes away some of the pressure for new artists. That was what was endearing about 1D, especially as we were surrounded by an industry full of ‘perfect’ model people.”

OK, let’s take this all in. It’s beyond adorable he called out Directioners and how the fans were such a driving source behind the group’s success. Glad to know he appreciates us all. It’s interesting though that he did bring up how none of the guys were ever forced into hiding their romantic relationships. The fandom has always been well aware of who they’re dating, since the boys themselves never really shied away from the obvious. But since Louis is back with Eleanor Calder, the lovely girl he dated for most of 1D’s peak before they split up, and he recently very honestly spoke about all those Larry Stylinson rumors and how it affected his friendship with Harry, it’s all just interesting that this is what he casually mentions. Do we think 1D’s love lives ever did come up as a topic of conversation behind the scenes? Were they ever told that possibly laying low with their leading ladies would be better for the group and they all decided against it? WE HAVE QUESTIONS LOUIS. But regardless, it’s clear that Louis is nothing but proud of all the band did together, as he should be.

Watch: Take a Look Back at 1D’s Cutest Moments

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