Drag Me Down

One Direction released "Drag Me Down" on July 31, 2015, as the lead single from their fifth studio album, Made in the A.M. It was the group's first new material following Zayn Malik's departure in March 2015, leaving the four remaining members, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, and Louis Tomlinson, to carry on. Written by Julian Bunetta, Jamie Scott, and John Ryan, and produced by Bunetta, the track is a midtempo pop rock song with reggae-tinged guitars, drawing comparisons to the work of The Police. The lyrics, often interpreted as a defiant statement of self-reliance, were partly inspired by the band's mothers, though Bunetta later clarified the song's open-ended meaning.

Commercially, "Drag Me Down" debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, becoming the band's fourth chart-topper in Britain. It also reached number one in Ireland, France, Austria, Australia, and New Zealand, the group's first number one in France and Australia. In the United States, the single entered the Billboard Hot 100 at number three, spending 20 weeks on the chart. The song has sold over 5 million units in the US and is certified Diamond by the RIAA.

The official music video, directed by Ben Winston, was filmed at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. It features the band undergoing a zero-gravity simulation, interspersed with shots of them performing in a hangar. Uploaded to YouTube on August 20, 2015, the video surpassed one billion views in 2022. "Drag Me Down" won the Brit Award for Best Video in 2016, the band's only award for this single. [edit]