Zayn Malik is best known as one of the founding members of the boy-band-of-a-generation One Direction. Born Zain Javadd Malik on January 12, 1993 in the working-class town of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England, Zayn honed his vocal talents and stage command at a young age. Growing up as a mixed race Pakistani-English Muslim in a postindustrial British town presented some difficulties, which resulted in a number of primary school changes. His talents were eventually fostered at Tong High School