Biography
Global pop superstar, songwriter, actor, and social advocate Harry Styles moved beyond his boy band origins to build an enormous solo career marked by anthemic pop-rock hits, an iconic fashion sense, and wide crossover appeal. Early on he belonged to the British boy band One Direction, which dominated charts throughout the first half of the 2010s while playing to millions of screaming fans on worldwide tours and moving albums in huge quantities. Stepping out alone in 2016, he shifted toward a rock-leaning sound shaped by childhood favorites Queen, Elton John, and the Beatles yet retained the pop sensibility his devoted listeners expected. His first solo album, Harry Styles, topped charts everywhere, after which he reached new peaks in 2019 with the multi-platinum follow-up Fine Line, featuring the Grammy- and Brit-winning smash “Watermelon Sugar.” Further honors arrived with 2022’s Harry’s House, another Grammy-winning global chart-topper backed by a record-breaking two-year tour.
Born in Redditch, England, in 1994, he grew up in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, and first performed in the high school band White Eskimo. Leaving home in 2010, he entered the seventh season of The X Factor, where Simon Cowell and chance brought him together with four other young men. As One Direction, Styles and bandmates Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne issued five albums between 2011 and 2015, securing number-one positions worldwide and selling millions of records to fans whose intensity recalled the peak of Beatlemania. After Malik’s departure, the remaining four announced an indefinite hiatus in early 2016.
Styles signed a solo contract with Columbia several months later. Working with Grammy-winning producer Jeff Bhasker, whose prior credits include Kanye West and Bruno Mars, he assembled a small band, rehearsed the material, and spent two months in Jamaica capturing the album. The plaintive “Sign of the Times” appeared as the lead single in April 2017 and quickly reached the top across Europe. The self-titled LP arrived in May, debuting at number one in Australia, the U.S., and throughout Europe. That summer he made his film debut playing a soldier in Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning epic Dunkirk, which led the U.S. box office in its opening week and made Styles the first British artist to achieve a number-one debut single, album, and film in the same calendar year. A lengthy world tour followed from September 2017 through July 2018, after which he began work on his second album alongside producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, both returning from the debut sessions.
During a break from those recordings, which occurred at studios in California, England, and Nashville, Styles inducted Stevie Nicks into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, co-hosted the Met Gala, and modeled for Gucci. Fine Line was released that December and expanded his range with touches of Childish Gambino-styled funk and Bon Iver-esque Baroque folk. While the hit single “Adore You” resonated globally, the multi-platinum, international Top Five smash “Watermelon Sugar” dominated 2020, earning a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance and a Brit Award for British Single of the Year in 2021. Additional acting roles that year placed him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Eros in Eternals and in the casts of Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman.
Love on Tour began in late 2021 and included a headlining appearance at Coachella 2022. He also issued the driving synth-forward single “As It Was,” which topped charts in more than two dozen countries. The track appeared on his third album, Harry’s House, released in May and again produced by Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson. The ’70s-inspired pop collection featured guests John Mayer, Pino Palladino, Blood Orange, and Ben Harper; it topped numerous global charts, including the U.K. and Billboard 200, and collected Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Between tour dates Styles starred in the 2022 releases Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman. Love on Tour wrapped in late July 2023, finishing as the tenth highest-grossing tour of all time.
Born in Redditch, England, in 1994, he grew up in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, and first performed in the high school band White Eskimo. Leaving home in 2010, he entered the seventh season of The X Factor, where Simon Cowell and chance brought him together with four other young men. As One Direction, Styles and bandmates Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Liam Payne issued five albums between 2011 and 2015, securing number-one positions worldwide and selling millions of records to fans whose intensity recalled the peak of Beatlemania. After Malik’s departure, the remaining four announced an indefinite hiatus in early 2016.
Styles signed a solo contract with Columbia several months later. Working with Grammy-winning producer Jeff Bhasker, whose prior credits include Kanye West and Bruno Mars, he assembled a small band, rehearsed the material, and spent two months in Jamaica capturing the album. The plaintive “Sign of the Times” appeared as the lead single in April 2017 and quickly reached the top across Europe. The self-titled LP arrived in May, debuting at number one in Australia, the U.S., and throughout Europe. That summer he made his film debut playing a soldier in Christopher Nolan’s Oscar-winning epic Dunkirk, which led the U.S. box office in its opening week and made Styles the first British artist to achieve a number-one debut single, album, and film in the same calendar year. A lengthy world tour followed from September 2017 through July 2018, after which he began work on his second album alongside producers Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson, both returning from the debut sessions.
During a break from those recordings, which occurred at studios in California, England, and Nashville, Styles inducted Stevie Nicks into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2019, co-hosted the Met Gala, and modeled for Gucci. Fine Line was released that December and expanded his range with touches of Childish Gambino-styled funk and Bon Iver-esque Baroque folk. While the hit single “Adore You” resonated globally, the multi-platinum, international Top Five smash “Watermelon Sugar” dominated 2020, earning a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance and a Brit Award for British Single of the Year in 2021. Additional acting roles that year placed him in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Eros in Eternals and in the casts of Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman.
Love on Tour began in late 2021 and included a headlining appearance at Coachella 2022. He also issued the driving synth-forward single “As It Was,” which topped charts in more than two dozen countries. The track appeared on his third album, Harry’s House, released in May and again produced by Kid Harpoon and Tyler Johnson. The ’70s-inspired pop collection featured guests John Mayer, Pino Palladino, Blood Orange, and Ben Harper; it topped numerous global charts, including the U.K. and Billboard 200, and collected Grammys for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album. Between tour dates Styles starred in the 2022 releases Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman. Love on Tour wrapped in late July 2023, finishing as the tenth highest-grossing tour of all time.
Albums
Singles
