Harry Styles |
|
---|---|
Information | |
Full name |
Harry Edward Styles |
Born |
February 1, 1994 (age 24) |
Hometown |
Holmes Chapel, Cheshire |
Nickname |
Hazza, Harold, H |
Resides |
London, England and Los Angeles, California |
Family |
Des Styles, Father |
Romances |
Camille Rowe (unconfirmed ex-girlfriend) |
Affiliations |
Harry Edward Styles (born February 1, 1994) is a former member of One Direction along with Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan. He is the youngest member of the group. He is currently signed to Columbia Records as a solo artist.
Harry released his debut solo single "Sign Of The Times" on April 7, 2017. His self-titled debut album "Harry Styles" was released on May 12, 2017.
Early Life
Harry Styles was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England to Des Styles and Anne Cox. [1] As a child, Harry loved singing and was heavily influenced by iconic artists such as Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones.
Growing up, Harry lived in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England and attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School. Harry mentioned in his 2010 X Factor audition that he planned to study law, and, in a 2015 interview, again commented that he would've studied to be a lawyer, if music hadn't worked out. In a 2016 feature article for AnOther Man Magazine, Harry's sister Gemma revealed he also considered a career in physiotherapy.
Musical Career
Early Beginnings
Harry was the lead singer for the band White Eskimo with members Hayden Morris (lead guitarist), Nick Clough (bass guitarist), and Will Sweeny (drummer).[2] They competed in a local Battle of the Bands competition and won. This helped Harry realise his passion for performing.
The X Factor
In 2010, when he was sixteen years old, Harry auditioned for the seventh season of The X Factor. He wanted professional opinions on his singing, stating "Singing is what I want to do, and if people who can make that happen for me don't think that I should be doing that, then it's a major setback in my plans." Harry sang "Isn't She Lovely" and received positive comments from Simon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger, while Louis Walsh had doubts on whether he was ready to progress in the competition. At bootcamp, Harry sang "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" before being eliminated as a solo artist then placed into One Direction. After placing third in the competition, One Direction signed a recording contract with Simon Cowell's Sony Music subsidiary label, Syco Music. The band released five best-selling albums over the next five years; Up All Night, Take Me Home, Midnight Memories, Four and Made in the A.M..
Songwriting
In a May 2016 interview, Snow Patrol singer Johnny McDaid revealed he'd written many songs with Harry over the years[3]. In 2014, Harry co-wrote numerous unreleased songs with pop singer Meghan Trainor[4] and rock band Kodaline[5]. Harry also wrote a song titled "Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart", which was given to American singer Ariana Grande, for her album My Everything[6]. Grande performed the song with Coldplay's Chris Martin at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival. In 2016, one of the songs Harry wrote with Trainor was given to jazz singer Michael Bublè, for his album Nobody But Me.
Solo Career
2016
Shortly after One Direction's hiatus began, Harry cut ties with the band's former management team Modest Management, signed with public relations management team DawBell, and hired longtime friend Jeff Azoff, son of music mogul Irving Azoff, to be his manager. Harry began working on his debut solo album in February. He halted production temporarily after winning a lead role in Christopher Nolan's 2017 war film Dunkirk. The film was a box office success, and would go on to receive several Academy Awards. Harry received public and critical acclaim for his role. In September, Harry released three special editions of AnOther Man Magazine, curated by himself and featuring several photoshoots, interviews and feature articles about his life and career. Album production restarted in July and concluded by December. Harry reunited briefly with his One Direction bandmates in December 2016 for The X Factor UK's grand final episode, where Louis was performing solo for the first time, just three days after his mother lost her battle with cancer.
2017
Columbia Records CEO Rob Stringer confirmed Harry's debut album would premiere in early 2017, stating: "We have a record we're incredibly excited about and it’s not far away from being ready. We obviously want everything to be beautifully done, because we think he's here to stay. Harry has stepped up with the vision of someone who's authentic"[7]. On 25 March 2017, a television advert featuring Harry exiting a dark room aired on television in the UK, confirming an upcoming single premiere date[8]. On 7 April 2017, Harry's debut single "Sign Of The Times" was released worldwide. It was a critical and commercial success, and would appear on many Best of 2017 lists. Two more singles, "Two Ghosts" and "Kiwi" were released, to minimal success. In a first for the series, Harry appeared on The Late Late Show With James Corden every night for a week in May, where he contributed to skits, hosted the opening monologue, performed songs from his album, and participated in his first solo Carpool Karaoke. Harry released his self-titled debut album "Harry Styles" worldwide on 12 May 2017. It was a global success, debuting at #1 in many countries. In November 2017, Harry won the ARIA Music Award for Best International Artist. Harry began a small venue world tour entitled Harry Styles: Live On Tour in September 2017, running through to December 2017.
2018
A larger arena tour began in early 2018, concluding in July. Harry served as the face of high fashion brand Gucci's 2018 campaign. From May onward, Harry served as executive producer for CBS sitcom "Happy Together", loosely based on his first years of newfound fame. The series was cancelled after two months.
Personal Life
Family
Harry's parents are Anne Twist and Desmond Styles. Anne and Desmond are divorced, and Anne re-married to Robin Twist. Harry has one older sister, Gemma, who works as a freelance journalist. His family owns a cat named Dusty and Gemma owns a cat named Olivia. Harry has three cousins, Matt, Ella and Ben Selley. In June 2017, Robin Twist passed away after a battle with cancer, aged 57.
Relationships
Felicity Skinner
Harry dated Felicity Skinner for a year, when both were 15 years old. In 2012, Skinner told media she had not contacted Harry since 2010. She described him as "a really good boyfriend, very romantic and, yes, shy." She said the relationship was long distance and their break up was a matter of drifting apart.[9]
Caroline Flack
Harry allegedly dated Caroline Flack in 2011, when he was 17 and she was 32. Their relationship caused controversy because of their fifteen year age gap. They met in 2010 when Harry was a contestant on The X Factor, and Flack was co-host of companion show, The Xtra Factor. Romance rumors grew the following year, when it was reported that Harry and Caroline were seen kissing at a 2011 X Factor after party. Rumors went unproven until December 2011, when Harry was photographed leaving her London home early in the morning. Although neither ever confirmed they were together, in January 2012 Harry tweeted that the relationship had mutually ended.[10] In May 2015, Flack said of the relationship: "I’m not going to ever apologise for it because there was nothing at the time that was serious or bad and nobody was getting hurt.”[11]
Taylor Swift
Harry dated American singer Taylor Swift from November 2012 to January 2013. After Taylor broke up with Connor Kennedy in October 2012, she was photographed wearing a paper plane necklace, similar to the one Harry wore at the time. The pair were later photographed holding hands numerous times, both in New York where Taylor lives, and in Cheshire, Harry's hometown, throughout December 2012. They shared a New Year's Eve kiss in New York City's Times Square. They split five days later, while on vacation, for unknown reasons. Swift has since described the relationship as "fragile" and "full of anxiety and roadblocks". While many have interpreted Swift's single "I Knew You Were Trouble", from her 2012 album "Red", to be about Harry, the song was written before they met and released as a single while they were still dating. Swift's 2014 album "1989" does feature two songs she confirmed to be about Harry: "Style" and "Out Of The Woods". Style was released as the third official single from 1989, and became one of the best selling songs of 2015. The title references Harry's surname and Swift holds a paper airplane necklace in the music video. Swift confirmed Out Of The Woods references a December 2012 snow mobile accident she and Harry were in where "my life flashed before my eyes". Harry was photographed with bandages on his chin in the immediate aftermath. In October 2015, One Direction released "Perfect", a song co-written by Harry and Louis, featuring the lyric "If you're looking for someone to write your break-up songs about, baby, I'm perfect", which sparked worldwide speculation as a reference to Swift, who is known for writing songs detailing her relationships.
In a 2017 interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Harry addressed his relationship with Swift for the first time ever. When asked to comment, Styles stated: "She doesn't need me to tell her the [songs about him] are great. It's the most amazing unspoken dialogue ever. Certain things don't work out. There's a lot of things that can be right, and it's still wrong. In writing songs about stuff like that, I like tipping a hat to the time together. You're celebrating the fact it was powerful and made you feel something, rather than 'this didn't work out, and that's bad.' And if you run into that person, maybe it's awkward, maybe you have to get drunk, but you shared something. Meeting someone new, sharing those experiences, it's the best shit ever".
Kendall Jenner
From 2013 to early 2016, it was heavily rumoured Harry was dating American model and reality TV star Kendall Jenner. Jenner is part of the Kardashian family, her mother was married to Robert Kardashian, father of Kim, Khloe and Kourtney. The Kardashian-Jenners are close with the Azoff family, of which Jeff Azoff is Harry's close friend and manager. After their first public outing in 2013, Harry was asked about the nature of their relationship during an interview for their 1D Day event, in which he responded, “I mean, we went to dinner, but no I’m not dating her.” When Kendall was asked about her relationship with Harry she stated that they were only friends. The two were photographed out and about numerous times over the next three years. In October 2015, Kendall attended one of One Direction's final concerts. In December 2015, Harry's family vacationed with the Jenner-Kardashians and the Azoffs. Photos later stolen and leaked from the trip show Harry and Kendall embracing and Kendall sitting on Harry's lap. Around this time, half-sister Khloe was asked to comment on the nature of their relationship, to which she responded that she felt they were probably dating, judging by how often they spend time together. However, Kourtney Kardashian noted she had not met Harry before. Harry attended Kendall's 21st birthday party in November 2016. His attendance went unknown until a photographer hired for the night uploaded a shot of Kendall and Harry together in a photo booth months later to his official website. The photo was later removed. Kendall attended the final show of Harry's 2018 world tour. Neither Harry or Kendall have ever confirmed a romantic relationship.
Camille Rowe
In July 2017, radio host and close friend Nick Grimshaw asked Harry during a BBC 1 radio interview to wear a heart monitor while he was shown pictures of people and objects. One person shown was American-French model Camille Rowe, to which Nick asked Harry what he thought of that picture. Harry responded, “I don’t know her. I’m sure she’s a wonderful person.” However, Harry was shaken by this and told Nick that he jokingly “hated" him. A month later, Harry and Camille were spotted attending a Fleetwood Mac concert together. Rowe accompanied Harry on his solo world tour, sitting either backstage or in the audience with Harry's mother, for many of his concert dates from September 2017 through to July 2018. Harry's sister Gemma began following Camille on Instagram in December 2017. The pair were photographed together by paparazzi and fans numerous times in early 2018. Neither officially confirmed the relationship and on 31 July 2018, UK news tabloid The Sun announced the pair had split.
Controversies
2010
In 2015, British singer Ed Sheeran revealed Harry had told him he purposefully leaked a nude photo of himself during his time on The X Factor. Ed told a reporter "Did you know Harry leaked that nude picture himself? He leaked his own picture. I think that’s amazing.” As Harry is underage in the photograph, it is illegal to download or distribute the image anywhere.
2011
Harry's alleged 2011 relationship with Caroline Flack caused considerable controversy because of the 15 year age gap between the two. Harry has never publicly spoken about the relationship while Flack courted minor publicity after releasing a book.
As of 2011, Harry has consistently been framed as a womanizer by the media. While claims of short relationships have gone unfounded and unconfirmed, Styles is seen as a "lothario" figure by the general public. He has expressed discomfort with this assumption[12] and Zayn once came to his defence in an interview[13]. In a 2013 interview with GQ, Harry was pushed to reveal how many sexual partners he had. Upon Harry revealing he had slept with two people, the interviewer stated they did not believe him. The harassment caused backlash from fans who did not appreciate reading Harry's discomfort[14]. The magazine criticised fans in response.
Sexuality Speculation (2011- 2018)
From 2011 onward, Harry and bandmate Louis have been the subject of a conspiracy theory suggesting they are a closeted couple, particularly after announcing they had made plans in 2010 to move in together after The X Factor[15]. They began renting an apartment together in September 2011, just before the band's debut single was released. The pair told media in 2011 they'd invented the combined name Larry Stylinson (Louis Tomlinson/Harry Styles) themselves, and Harry told a magazine: "Until I find the perfect girl, I have Louis"[16]. Their mothers often tweeted about how close the pair were, with Louis's mother once referring to Harry as Louis's husband[17]. In October 2011, Louis tweeted "Always in my heart @HarryStyles. Yours sincerely, Louis".[18] The tweet came shortly after Louis was confirmed to be dating Eleanor Calder. Many believed it signified he and Harry had been forcibly closeted. Past boy bands have had closeted gay members who hid their sexuality, for fear of angering heterosexual female fans[19]. Louis's tweet to Harry is currently the third most retweeted of all time (with over 2 million retweets). In February 2015, it surpassed a tweet by former US President Barack Obama, sparking worldwide headlines[20]. Neither Harry or Louis have ever addressed the tweet.
In early 2012, rumors of Harry moving out of his house with Louis circulated. Louis stated fans speculating about their relationship had made them too uncomfortable to continue being close friends[21]. Many chose not to believe this as their friendship seemed largely unchanged, despite their spending less time together in public. Over the next three years, several denials were issued by Louis. In late 2012, Louis tweeted "Larry is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard"[22] in response to a fan who refused to believe Louis's relationship with Eleanor was real. From early 2013, Harry and Louis were not seen together outside of work commitments, leading many to believe they had fallen out. In July 2014, however, Harry attended Louis's mother's wedding, along with Niall and Liam.
As of 2017, Harry and Louis's friendship appears unaffected by ongoing rumors. In August 2015, Harry attended Louis's sister Lottie's birthday party, along with Louis and Liam. During One Direction's November 2015 album promo, they often sat next to each other and shared jokes together. Louis stated Zayn's departure from the band brought the four remaining members much closer together. It is unknown if Harry and Louis made contact throughout 2016, however Harry was in attendance for Louis's first solo performance on The X Factor, on December 10, 2016, along with Liam and Niall. Louis wished Harry a happy birthday on Twitter on February 1, 2017, his first online interaction toward Harry in four years. In May 2017, Harry was asked during an interview to clarify if his solo single Sweet Creature was about Louis. Harry stated: "People are always going to speculate what songs are about. I don't think I’d ever want to tell someone that they're wrong for feeling how they feel about a song, even when they're not necessarily right. The fun thing with music is you get to write a song that has all you want to say on it and you don’t necessarily have to explain it much further than that. If you really listen to the lyrics, you can work out whether its about that or not, and I would lean towards no[23]". In June 2017, Louis expressed his condolences to Harry and his family on Twitter, after Harry's stepfather lost his battle with cancer. Throughout his Back To You promotional campaign, Louis stated numerous times that he was proud of Harry's successful venture into acting.
On 12 May 2017, Harry was asked to clarify his sexuality by The Sun reporter Dan Wooton. Harry stated: "I’ve never felt the need to [label my sexuality], really. I don’t feel like it’s something I’ve ever felt like I have to explain about myself.”
On July 22, 2017, Louis criticised the conspiracy, stating: "It created this atmosphere between the two of us where everyone was looking into everything we did. It made everything, I think on both fences, a little bit more unapproachable. I think it shows that it was never anything real, if I can use that word."
In March 2018, Harry performed a previously unreleased song titled "Medicine" during his world tour. One lyric in the song appeared to suggest bisexuality: "The boys and the girls are here/ I mess around with him/ And I’m OK with it", sparking worldwide media speculation.
2013
In 2013, Harry liked a picture on Instagram of a man about to undress. The picture was designed to look like a video and the caption read "Double tap to see me strip". (An image tapped twice on Instagram becomes "liked"). The owner of the photo wrote "Hi @harrystyles :)" after noticing what had happened. It caused continued speculation about Harry's sexuality.
In July, Harry denied being in a relationship with BBC Radio 1 host Nick Grimshaw, after media speculated why they were spending so much time together. Upon being asked about it, Harry stated "‘Oh, really? I didn’t even know. We’re not dating, no. We’re just friends." The interviewer also asked if he was bisexual and Harry stated "Bisexual? Me? I don’t think so. I’m pretty sure I’m not."[24] Grimshaw also denied in 2015 that he and Harry ever dated.
In December 2013, Harry won a court order against paparazzi, prohibiting them from loitering within 50 metres of his house, placing him under surveillance or pursuing him in vehicles.[25]
2014
In July, a pornographic image of a woman appeared in Harry's favorites on Twitter. The image was left there for over eight hours. When Harry realized the error, he deleted the tweet and favorited numerous pictures of puppies and kittens, before tweeting "Sooooo...the weather?".
During a 2014 concert, Harry danced with an inflatable hammer bearing the Israel flag and symbols, which many found offensive as Israel was conducting brutal attacks against Palestine at the time. Zayn spoke against these attacks on Twitter. On Instagram, Harry took down an image of himself wearing a Native American headdress after receiving accusations of racial appropriation, meaning trivializing sacred elements of culture and removing them from their proper context.
2015
In July, Harry told a US concert audience "If you like whales, don't go to Sea World", referencing the animal cruelty accusations often aimed at the animal park. Sea World staff responded with a series of inflammatory tweets. Media noted Sea World's reputation further plummeted as a result of Harry's comments and in November, the park announced they would be phasing out their famous Orca show. In late 2015, Heat Magazine made a formal apology for running a story about Styles dating a model, stating the story had been completely fabricated.
In October, One Direction released a song called "Perfect", co-written by Harry and Louis, which featured the lyrics "If you're looking for someone to write your break-up songs about, baby I'm perfect". Many took this to be a reference or diss to ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, who is known for writing songs about former relationships, and wrote about Harry on her 1989 album. Harry was asked numerous times to explain the lyric but remained vague saying it was down to personal interpretation.
2017
Throughout his debut solo world tour, Harry would often wave various LGBT+ flags during his concerts, usually from fans in the crowd. In October, several fans brought flags and signs in support of race relations social movement Black Lives Matter to numerous concerts, but it was unclear if Harry ever saw or had access to them, as he did not wave any. Fans criticised Harry online for what they believed was him specifically ignoring them or being too afraid to publicly show support for the cause. Harry eventually posted a supportive image to his official Instagram account and went on to wave the flag at several shows in mid 2018.
Tattoos
As of April 2017, Harry has 61 known tattoos.
Writing Credits
- "Taken" — writing
- "Everything About You" — writing
- "Same Mistakes" — writing
- "Back For You" — writing
- "Summer Love" - writing
- "Right Now" — writing
- "Story of My Life" — writing
- "Happily" — writing
- "Something Great" — writing
My Everything (Ariana Grande)
- "Just a Little Bit of Your Heart" — writing
- "Night Changes" — writing
- "Where Do Broken Hearts Go" — writing
- "Stockholm Syndrome" — writing
- "Fool's Gold" — writing
- "Change Your Ticket" — writing
- "Perfect" — writing
- "If I Could Fly" — writing
- "Olivia" — writing
- "Walking in the Wind" — writing
- "A.M." — writing
- "Meet Me in the Hallway" - writing
- Sign Of The Times" - writing
- "Carolina" - writing
- "Two Ghosts" - writing
- "Sweet Creature" - writing
- "Only Angel" - writing
- "Kiwi" - writing
- "Ever Since New York" - writing
- "Woman" - writing
- "From The Dining Table" - writing
Others :
- "Better Than Being Alone" (given to band Augustana)
- "Little Boat" (co-written with, and for, Ainsley Smart)
- "Just A Litte Bit Of Your Heart" (given to Ariana Grande)
- "I Love You" (given to Alex & Sierra)
- Someday (given to Michael Buble, co-written with Meghan Trainor)
- "Alfie's Song" (co-written with Jack Antonoff and Ilsey Juber for the film Love, Simon)
- "Anna" - (Unreleased song performed during 2018 world tour)
- "Medicine" - (Unreleased song performed during 2018 world tour)
Quotes
- "It's not about being who you were. It's about keeping who you were part of who you are now." (Interview with Nightline)[26]
- "We feel like that objectifies women and that's not really what we're about" (On whether the band has "dibs" on girls, in 2013).
- “I’m 100 percent in this band. I still want to be touring with One Direction in ten years. I’ll be doing it until I’m old and people are telling me to stop.” (This Is Us)
- "It costs nothing to be nice" (Quote featured in 365 Days of Wonder by R.J Palacio)
- "I feel like when people label people as famous they take away a lot of the substance that they have as a person. So you don't remember if they were funny or they were really nice and giving, they're just famous. After that, any choice you make, if it's not as famous or more, it's considered a failure. And that's a shame because it's not a failure always" (SPIN 1038 Interview, 2013)
- "Olivia is whoever you want her to be. It's open to interpretation. I think it's how people take songs in different ways and that's what's fun. Who am I to tell someone what a song means to them? It doesn't always necessarily mean the same thing to them as it means to me." (On the song "Olivia")
- "I just love the imperfections of vinyl. The scratches and crackles - you don't get that from anything else. It has a warmth to it. I think my favourite album cover is the Plastic Ono Band's 'Live Peace In Toronto 1969'. It's so simple. It's perfect." (AnOther Man, September 2016)
- "Playing big venues when you just see a sea of people, that view...you stop for a second and wish you could bring all your friends to just stand there with you for a second to see it. It's unlike anything else. There's no drug you can take that give you that same high. It's pretty amazing that it's a natural thing."(On performing live)
- "Who's to say that young girls who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That's not up to you to say. Music is something that's always changing. There's no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they're not serious? How can you say young girls don't get it? They're our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans – they don't lie. If they like you, they're there. They don't act 'too cool.' They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick." (Rolling Stone, April 2017)
- "I’m not educated enough on the subject to really go toe-to-toe with someone about it, but disregarding the economic stuff, I think what it symbolises is the opposite of the world I would like to be in. I think the world should be more about being together and being better together and joining together, and I think it’s the opposite of that." (On the Brexit)
Trivia
- He had blonde hair as an infant.
- His zodiac sign is Aquarius.
- He is 5"11 feet tall.
- He has four nipples. All four can be seen in the Kiss You music video.
- In 2014, he supported the HeForShe equal rights campaign.
- He is a Manchester United and Green Bay Packers fan.
- Harry has shown interest in Judaism and Jewish culture. He has tweeted acknowledgement of Jewish holidays. Ben Winston gave Harry a kippah (also known as a yarmulke) as a birthday present in 2013. Harry referred to himself as spiritual, rather than religious, in his 2016 AnOther Man interview.
- He has matching tattoos with Ed Sheeran and Kings of Leon singer Nathan Followill.
- On July 5 2016, Harry was a guest for Professor Robert Winston, Ben Winston's father, at the House Of Lords, to hear the debate about the impact of the Brexit.
- He had the second most retweeted tweet of 2016.
- Michael Buble's 2016 song "Someday" was co-written by Harry, and Meghan Trainor.
- He owns four companies: HSA Publishing Limited, Fridous Limited, Erskine Records Limited, and Erskine Touring Company LLP.
External Links
- @Harry_Styles - Official Twitter
- harrystyles - Official Instagram
- hstyles.co.uk - Official Website
References
- ↑ Harry Styles to be best man at mom Anne Cox's wedding. Sugarscape.com.
- ↑ Holmes Chapel X Factor star Harry Styles can win show say school bandmates. Crewe Chronicle. October 12, 2010.
- ↑ 'He's a really prolific artist': Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid
- ↑ Harry Styles and Meghan Trainor Secret Songwriting Partners?
- ↑ In the studio with Harry Styles!
- ↑ Ariana Grande Loves The Song Harry Styles Wrote For Her
- ↑ Rob Stringer Statement
- ↑ Harry Styles TV advert, March 25 2017
- ↑ Felicity Skinner
- ↑ @Harry_Styles. Twitter. Announcing end of Caroline relationship. January 26, 2012.
- ↑ Caroline Flack May 2015 Interview
- ↑ Harry denial
- ↑ Zayn defends Harry
- ↑ GQ interview
- ↑ Harry about Louis
- ↑ Harry quote
- ↑ Jay's Tweet
- ↑ AIMH Tweet
- ↑ The Cost Of The Closet
- ↑ Louis Tweet Surpasses Obama
- ↑ Louis Interview
- ↑ Tweet
- ↑ Harry on Sweet Creature
- ↑ Harry and Grimmy denial
- ↑ Harry Styles wins court order against paparazzi
- ↑ 12newsnow.com
7. Harry Styles Height - How Tall. allheight.com