Zayn Malik Opens Up About His Influences, FanFiction & Fan Art in Autobiography Excerpt

Zayn Malik is getting ready to release his autobiography next month and he’s giving fans a sneak peek at what he’s written!

In two new excerpts, the 23-year-old musician opens up about what influenced Mind of Mine, his love for the Beatles, and One Direction fanfiction.

“When I was still in One Direction, fans would write stories based on me and the other lads and publish them online. I’m not gonna lie, it’s pretty unnerving reading things about yourself as a character from somebody else’s imagination – but it’s cool to see that so many fans engaged with the band on their own terms like that. It’s crazy to think that we inspired so many different stories and the opportunity for so much creativity from so many people all over the world,” he wrote.

Zayn continued, “My favourite stuff, personally, is fan art. I love seeing how many different ways people interpret my lyrics and my style, and it’s so cool that they share that with me. It’s also weirdly touching to see how many talented people out there choose to apply that talent to something connected with me and my music. It’s really humbling.”

Zayn is set to hit selves on November 1st.

Click inside to read the rest of the excerpts from the book…

“When I’d finally finished recording Mind of Mine, I realized I had put down forty-eight songs. I couldn’t believe we had so many. It was a nightmare choosing the final list, especially because all the songs meant a lot to me, and I procrastinated as much as I could before making my decision. In the end, it all came together; the songs chosen for the album spoke for themselves.

I’d been listening to a lot of tracks by the Beatles when I was working on it. I had really got into some of their more psychedelic stuff, like ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ from the 1967 album Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The piano chords at the start of ‘Fool for You,’ and the guitars, were inspired by the Beatles‘ sound…I like to draw on the influence of all sorts of music and artists,” he wrote.