Zain Javadd "Zayn" Malik (জায়ান মালিক) is an English singer. He auditioned as a solo contestant for the British music competition television series The X Factor in 2010, where he ended up being a part of five-piece boy band One Direction, which went on to become one of the best-selling boy bands of all time. He left the group in March 2015 and signed a solo recording contract with RCA Records.

Adopting a more alternative R&B music style on his first solo studio album, Mind of Mine (2016), and its lead single, "Pillowtalk", he became the first British male artist to debut at number one in both the UK and US with his debut single and album. His subsequent collaborative singles "I Don't Wanna Live Forever" with Taylor Swift and "Dusk Till Dawn" featuring Sia were met with international success. He released his second studio album, Icarus Falls, in 2018, followed by his third album, Nobody Is Listening, in 2021.

Malik has received several accolades, including an American Music Award and a MTV Video Music Award. He is the only artist to have won the Billboard Music Award for New Artist of the Year twice, receiving it once as a member of One Direction in 2013 and again in 2017 as a soloist.

Early life
Zain Javadd Malik was born on 12 January 1993, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, to an immigrant Pakistani Muslim father, Yaser Malik, and a White British mother of English and Irish descent, Trisha (née Brannan), who converted to Islam upon marriage. Malik has one older sister, Doniya, and two younger sisters, Waliyha and Safaa.

Malik grew up in East Bowling, Bradford, in a working-class family and neighbourhood. He attended Lower Fields Primary School and Tong High School (now Tong Leadership Academy) in Bradford. As a teenager, he took performing arts courses and appeared in school productions. He grew up listening to his father's urban music records, primarily R&B, hip hop, and reggae. He wrote raps when he was at school and sang on stage for the first time when singer Jay Sean visited his school. Malik also boxed for two years, from ages 15 to 17. Before beginning his music career, he intended to pursue an academic degree in English in hopes of becoming an English teacher.

Personal life
Malik speaks English and Urdu and can read Arabic.

Malik has openly spoken about suffering from an eating disorder while in One Direction, which he attributed to the overwhelming workload and pace of life on tour. He has also spoken about suffering from anxiety and lack of confidence, especially before live solo performances, having cancelled multiple concerts after experiencing "the worst anxiety" of his career.

As of 2023, he has been living in suburban Pennsylvania for several years, "happy to get away from the bustle of New York City." In 2018, he owned an apartment in SoHo, Manhattan, and previously owned homes in Los Angeles and London, both of which he sold in 2018.

In the past, he was a target of Islamophobic attacks. In 2017, Malik stated that he identified as a non-practising Muslim and did not want to be defined by his religion or cultural background. In November 2018, he told British Vogue that he believes in God but no longer identified as Muslim.

Relationships
After being in a relationship with fellow The X Factor contestant Rebecca Ferguson, Malik began dating English singer Perrie Edwards of the group Little Mix in December 2011; they became engaged in August 2013 but broke up in August 2015.

Malik began an on-again, off-again relationship with American model Gigi Hadid in late 2015. Hadid starred in his music video for "Pillowtalk", and the pair appeared together on the August 2017 cover of Vogue. In 2017, Hadid photographed them both for a Versace campaign. Hadid gave birth to their daughter in September 2020. The family spent a majority of their time at their residence on a working farm in rural Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where Malik tended to horses and cows and Hadid's mother Yolanda and sister Bella also own land. Malik and Hadid ended their relationship in October 2021, after Hadid's mother accused him of striking her; Malik entered a no contest plea to four charges of harassment. Court papers stated that Malik "grabbed and shoved her into a dresser causing mental anguish and physical pain" and said "lewd, lascivious, threatening or obscene words". He was sentenced by a Pennsylvania court to 360 days of probation and completion of anger management and domestic violence education programmes.