One Direction Performs Songs From New Album Four on Today—Where Was Zayn Malik?!

Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan explain fifth boy-bander's noticeable absence

By Rebecca Macatee Nov 17, 2014 3:15 PMTags

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Four members of One Direction debuted their fourth studio album, Four, on Today at Universal Orlando Resort Monday—but their all-important fifth member, Zayn Malik, was nowhere to be seen.

The reason? "He's got a tummy bug, so he's not very well," Liam Payne explained. "We only found out this morning so we're really sad, he is as well, that he can't be here for our album release...It's still going to be a great day, I'm sure."

It was, indeed, but Zayn was sorely missed! #GetWellSoonZayn trended worldwide all morning, but the show had to go on!

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Today's Matt Lauer and Al Roker introduced Liam, Niall Horan, Louis Tomlinson and Harry Styles, who performed songs from the new album, like "Steal My Girl," as well as some old favorites like "Best Song Ever" and "Little Things."

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The guys' new tracks don't sound a lot like their 2011 hit, "What Makes You Beautiful." That's because, Louis explained, they've "tried to make our music move with us a little bit, as we've gotten a little bit older and each album gets a little bit older."

"I think this is the album we're most proud of," added Harry, admitting with the release of every new album, "It's exciting and nervous at the same time."

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So far, so good! Harry, Louis, Liam and Niall put on a great show, but it wasn't quite the same without Zayn there. Here's hoping that Twitter trending topic helps heal his tummy ASAP!

(E!, NBC and Universal Orlando Resort are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)