One Direction's Liam Payne signs solo deal with Capitol Records

Singer Liam Payne, of One Direction success, has signed a lucrative solo record deal with Capitol Records.

The heartthrob took to his official Twitter page this evening to announce the exciting news and told his followers that he is:

"Happy to have signed to @CapitolUK. They have an amazing history of artists, I hope I can follow in their footsteps. One direction will always be my home and family but I'm very excited to see what this chapter brings."

Capitol's roster includes Catfish and the Bottlemen, 5 Seconds Of Summer, Disclosure, Emeli Sande, Katy Perry, Mary J. Blige, Troye Sivan, Sam Smith and Tori Kelly among others.

Since his announcement, which was shared on social media around an hour ago, the hashtag #OneDirectionIsOverParty shot into the Top 10 trending topics list on Twitter.

Just yesterday (July 19), music mogul Louis Walsh told Ireland's Saturday Night with Miriam that he believes the boyband is "over": "Niall Horan was in the right place at the right time, he’s the luckiest guy in the world and he knows that. They made an awful lot of money but it’s over now for them and who’s going to have the solo career. I think Niall will do really well and Harry."

Watch 1D's 'History' music video here: