Fans weep as One Direction and Ed Sheeran call it quits, for now

If you're a young music fan, or there is such a person in your life, the world has hit you with a one-two punch of bad news: One Direction is going on hiatus and Ed Sheeran is taking a break from social media. 

One Direction performed on the finale of the British version of The X Factor, the talent show that got them their big break in music, on Sunday night. 

The four singers also posted a thank-you video to their millions of fans on their social media accounts. 

It's been widely reported that the group would be taking a break after finishing a tour this autumn and promoting their fifth album, Made in the A.M., so many people speculated that this could be One Direction's last performance together before that hiatus.

"I know you're going to take a break, you deserve the break, and I want to just take the chance to say thank you," said X Factor judge Simon Cowell, who brought together the group and signed them to his record label. 

After the performance, One Direction's social media-savvy fans commiserated on Twitter over the group's break using the hashtag #ThisIsNotTheEndOfOneDirection, which promptly trended worldwide. 

The band is known for its group hugs, so they were featured in many of the photos posted on the hashtag. 

One Direction formed in 2010 after five teenagers — Louis Tomlinson, Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Niall Horan and Zayn Malik — auditioned individually for The X Factor. 

Malik quit the group in March, but One Direction continued to record and perform as a four-member band. 

Sheeran also 'taking a break'

As if One Direction's hiatus wasn't enough to devastate young music fans, one of the world's biggest solo acts announced that he, too, would be "taking a break." 

Ed Sheeran announced on his Instagram account that he would be "buggering off for a bit," travelling the world and not posting to his social media feeds until next fall. 

Sheeran wrote that he found himself "seeing the world through a screen and not my eyes," so the break from his phone and email would allow him to "see everything I missed." 

That news spawned a hashtag, as well: #WeWillMissYouEd. 

Sheeran's five-continent tour in support of his album x wrapped up on Saturday. In an interview with an Australian radio station last week, he revealed that he would be having ear surgery when he gets back home to the U.K., and would take time off to recover.