One Direction break record

Band's album debuts at Number 1 in US charts...

10:49 21 March 2012

One Direction have become the first British band in history to debut at the top of the the US album chart.

The group, who found fame after appearing on the X Factor in 2010, went straight to Number 1 in the Billboard Chart with their record, Up All Night, which sold a massive 176,000 copies in its first week of release.

The previous highest entry for a UK band's first album was Number 6, when the Spice Girls hit the States back in 1997 with their album, Spice.

Band member Harry Styles told the BBC that achieving a Number 1 was a "dream come true", saying:

"We simply cannot believe that we are number one in America. We want to thank each and every one of our fans in the US who bought our album and we would also like to thank the American public for being so supportive of us."

Niall, Harry, Zayn, Liam and Louis stormed the States recently, following a country-wide promotional tour which saw them perform with boyband Big Time Rush and appear on the Today Show.

It was also confirmed this week that the band will star in their own Nickelodeon television show.

The boyband are the latest success story when it comes to UK acts succeeding in the States, with fellow group The Wanted also achieving a record after they debuted at Number 5 in the singles chart with their song, Glad You Came.