One Direction Performs Live on 'GMA 40 for 40'

— -- "Good Morning America" is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a 40-hour livestream event and One Direction took the stage earlier tonight to mark the monumental milestone with a show that brought the house down in Los Angeles.

The band, which just finished touring Great Britain and Ireland, opened with “Drag Me Down.”

Before the show, the guys explained the name of the new album “Made in the A.M.", and said it comes from the fact that they make a lot of their music late in the night into the early morning.

After coming off a huge stadium tour and flying in last night from London, the band is happy to perform in an intimate setting.

"Here we can see you all," Liam said to the small audience.

After “Drag Me Down,” the band rocked the intimate, yet excited crowd and sang “Perfect.” They also took us inside the filming for the song’s video.

“Basically the idea behind the video is kind of like what happens on your day off,” Niall said. Some of the scenes in the video were shot in New York City, so a group performance was shot on the iconic rooftops of NYC.

Next came "Love You Goodbye," the first time the gang sang the song in the States. "History" capped off the historic show as the fourth and final song of the night.

In between the performances, One Direction is explaining the inspiration for their music during a chat with ABC News’ Lara Spencer and singer Nick Lachey.

"It's unprecedented the access we have been given," Spencer said before the show.