Zayn Malik gives off steamy stare on first ever Interview Magazine cover

Former One Direction band member Zayn Malik is one of Interview Magazine's eight cover stars on their September #ME issue, People reports. The singer, who announced his separation from the band in March this year, claimed he needed to live as a "normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight" just in the middle of the band's "On the Road Again" tour in Asia.

In July, Entertainment Weekly reported that Malik has signed with major record label RCA. He tweeted: "I guess I never explained why I left, it was for this moment to be given the opportunity to show you who i really am!"

According to Hollywood Life, Simon Cowell, who discovered the boys who went on to become the globally successful band One Direction, congratulated Malik on his solo career, saying in a couple of tweets: "We have been working on this for a while and I am pleased to say congratulations to @Zaynmalik on signing with @RCARecords. I believe they are the perfect label for @ZaynMalik’s solo career and I am sure whatever they release together will be special."

Reveal also reports that Cowell advised Malik to keep his head down in the mean time. He said: "He needs to get a sense of perspective back, which is he had a great opportunity, for whatever reason he didn't want to do it anymore, so maybe keep quiet for a while, make a great record and enjoy life."

The remaining doue members of the band—Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan—recently addressed rumors that the band are going on a hiatus next year, and Cowell also had some things to say about it.

Billboard reports that Cowell admitted: "Look, even though they're young, that is a grueling schedule. After a while I could see they were exhausted, so when they said, 'How do you feel about it?' I said, 'Do whatever you want.' Having a year off is going to be a healthy thing."

Cowell also said that he did not want to pressure the boys into reuniting or pursuing things they did not want to pursue. He said that a reunion is "not going to be because of any pressure from me...like we said in the beginning, this is an opportunity, you won it. I've always had that attitude with them. They're nice guys and they're loyal so it'll be fine."

Cowell trusts that the boys could use the time off to rest and figure out what career path they would like to take moving forward. He said: "It's not over yet. They're going to take some time off and they're going to decide what they want to do."