Zayn Malik’s ‘Pillowtalk’ Debuted Higher Than Any One Direction Song

Apparently Zayn’s decision to quit One Direction and go solo is proving to be the right choice. The singer’s newly released single “Pillowtalk” landed at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100 charts on the week it was released, according to Billboard.

Back when Zayn was part of the boyband, their songs only debuted as far as the number two on the list. This feat puts him on equal footing with former Beatles, George Harrison, who releaased a single nearly 45 years ago.

The key points from Billboard:

– Zayn, born in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the first U.K. artist to debut at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with a first charted single. He’s the third U.K. act to start at the summit overall, following Adele (“Hello,” 2015) and Elton John (“Candle in the Wind 1997″/”Something About the Way You Look Tonight,” 1997).

– Zayn goes where One Direction hasn’t: to No. 1 on the Hot 100. Before he left the boy band, 1D tallied four top 10s, rising as high as No. 2 with “Best Song Ever” in August 2013. (Without Zayn, the group has landed two more top 10s: “Drag Me Down” and “Perfect,” which reached Nos. 3 and 10, respectively, last year.)

–  If we consider the Beatles a founding pop music boy band, Zayn is the first one-time member of a Hot 100-charting boy band to score a No. 1 with a debut single on the survey since George Harrison. The Quiet Beatle launched with the four-week No. 1 “My Sweet Lord”/”Isn’t It a Pity” in 1970, following the Fab Four’s split earlier that year.