Professionally known as Zayn, English singer and songwriter Zain Javadd Malik is part Asian. Born and raised in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, he turned 32 on January 12, 2025.

Aside from English, Zayn also speaks Urdu and he can read Arabic. He was raised Muslim and has been a target of anti-Muslim attacks.

Zayn was born in Bradford on January 12, 1993 to Yaser Malik and Tricia Brannan Malik. Yaser and Tricia have three daughters namely Doniya Malik, Waliyha Malik and Safaa Malik and Zayn is the second child.

Tricia is of English and Irish descent. She converted to Islam upon her marriage to Yaser, who is a British Pakistani or a U.K. citizen whose ancestral roots lie in Pakistan.

One Direction

From 2008 to 2009, Zayn did boxing. In 2010, he successfully auditioned for “The X Factor” Season 7 in Manchester, England.

Before the final round of “The X Factor” Season 7, Zayn was eliminated but he was brought back by judges Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger along with his fellow competitors Harry Styles, Niall Horan, Liam Payne and Louis Tomlinson to compete in the remainder of the show. The group was eventually called One Direction.

After finishing third in the show, One Direction went on to become one of the most successful boy bands in history. In 2015, Zayn left the group.

Zayn

On March 25, 2016, RCA Records released “Mind of Mine,” Zayn’s debut studio album as a solo artist. Among the songs from the album are “Pillowtalk,” “It’s You,” “Befour,” “She” and “Wrong” featuring Kehlani Ashley Parrish, who is mononymously known as Kehlani.

In December 2011, Zayn started dating Little Mix member Perrie Edwards. They got engaged in August 2013 but they broke up in July 2015.

Zayn met Gigi Hadid on the set of his music video for “Pillowtalk.” After she gave birth to their daughter Khai Malik in September 2020, they ended their relationship in October 2021.

On December 14, 2018, RCA Records released Zayn’s second solo studio album titled “Icarus Falls.” The album has several collaboration songs including  “Too Much” featuring Timothy Zachary “Timbaland” Mosley and “No Candle No Light” featuring Onika Tanya “Nicki Minaj” Maraj-Petty.

On January 15, 2021, RCA Records released Zayn’s third studio album “Nobody is Listening”. On May 17, 2024, Mercury and Republic Records released his fourth studio album “Room Under the Stairs“.