Is Boy Band Baggage Holding Back One Direction Solo Success at the Grammys?

Now, with the 2018 Grammy nominations revealed, it's looking like the 1D Grammy drought continues. For Zayn, although his Taylor Swift duet "I Don't Want to Live Forever" was nominated for best song written for visual media, he didn't get anything – that category only rewards songwriters.

In fact, none of the solo efforts from the now-quartet earned Grammy love.

Okay, Liam Payne's "Strip That Down" was never gonna get a nod -- sure, it's a bona fide hit, but a club-oriented pop&B track is not the Recording Academy's cup of tea. But both Harry Styles' debut album and Niall Horan's hit "Slow Hands" are rooted in '70s rock influences (David Bowie and Pink Floyd for the former, Eagles and Fleetwood Mac for the latter) that the Recording Academy typically celebrates. While Horan's Flicker album came out after this year's eligibility period (which ran through Sept. 30), "Slow Hands" could have received some attention in the pop categories. Same with Styles: It's easy to imagine either the "Sign of the Times" single or the Harry Styles album getting love in rock categories.

And yet, nothing. The reason is pretty easy to guess: In many voters' minds, they're still the "What Make You Beautiful" boys, more deserving of teenage adoration than Grammy gold. If 1D's move toward adult fare on their last two LPs didn't move the Recording Academy, why would these solo efforts? 

In the Recording Academy's defense, you could argue that Harry Styles and "Slow Hands" just weren't strong enough – and some critics would back that up. But it's hard not to feel that if Styles or Horan had emerged in 2017 without any boy band baggage, at least one of them might've scored a nomination.