Harry Styles

Harry Styles
Background Information
Birth Name	Harry Edward Styles
Born	February 1, 1994
Origin	Redditch, Worcestershire, England, UK
Occupation(s)	Singer-songwriter, actor
Years Active	2010-present
Gallery

Harry Edward Styles is an English singer, songwriter and actor, known as a member of the boy band One Direction. He made his debut as a singer with his band White Eskimo, who performed locally in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire. In 2010, Styles auditioned as a solo artist for the British television series The X Factor. After being eliminated as a solo performer, Styles was brought back into the competition, along with four other contestants, to form the group that would later become known as One Direction. He made his acting debut in the film Dunkirk. His debut solo album was released in 2017.

Music Career

The X Factor

Harry during his audition on The X Factor.

On 11 April 2010, Styles auditioned as a solo candidate for the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor. He failed to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges' houses." Four others in his age group did as well, but after a suggestion by Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, they were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know one another and to practise. Styles came up with the name One Direction. For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Simon Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well." Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.

One Direction performing on The X Factor.

One Direction finished in third place and immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor, was leaked onto the internet. Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a record producer. A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. During the tour the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album. Recording took place in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, and Rami Yacoub, among others. Styles came up with band name One Direction, which he thought would sound good when The X Factor announcer Peter Dickson read their name out on the live shows.

One Direction

One Direction at the 2015 AMAs.

Following The X Factor, One Direction were signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment in 2010. They released their first studio album, Up All Night, in 2011, followed by their second, Take Me Home, in 2012. One Direction: This Is Us, a documentary about the band directed by Morgan Spurlock, was released in August 2013. The film grossed more than $30 million worldwide its first weekend in theaters. The band's third studio album, Midnight Memories, was released on 25 November 2013. The band released their fourth studio album, Four, in 2014. During 2015, member Zayn Malik left the band to pursue a solo career. The band decided to continue as a four piece. It was also announced that the group will be going on a hiatus after releasing their newest album. Their fifth album, Made in the A.M., was released in November 2015.

Solo Career

Harry during his photoshoot for his debut album Harry Styles.

On June 23, 2016, Billboard reported that Styles signed a recording contract with Columbia Records as a solo artist, the same label behind One Direction. His debut solo single Sign of the Times was released on April 7, 2017. His self-titled debut album was released on May 12, 2017. It debuted at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. He embarked on his first headlining concert tour, Harry Styles: Live on Tour, from September 2017 through to July 2018.

Harry during his photoshoot for his second album Fine Line

On October 11, 2019, Styles released the lead single Lights Up from his second studio album titled Fine Line. The album was thereafter preceeded by the singles Adore You, Falling and Watermelon Sugar with the latter peaking at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 during 2020, becoming Styles' first #1 single on the chart. His second studio album was released on December 13, 2019.

Acting Career

Harry in the film Dunkirk.

Styles made his acting debut in Christopher Nolan's action-thriller Dunkirk which is based on the British military evacuation in World War II. He starred alongside Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy and Kenneth Branagh. During 2017, there were rumours circulating to Styles auditioning for the role of Han Solo for the Star Wars Han Solo spin-off film. These rumours were addressed when Styles appeared on The Graham Norton Show in April 2017. During October 2017, Harry had been in early talks to star in the film The Goldfinch, as stated by Variety writer Justin Kroll. In the month of July 2019, Styles was amongst the frontrunners to portray Elvis Presley in Baz Luhrmann's biopic before the role eventually went to actor Austin Butler. During the same month, Styles was in talks to play the role of Prince Eric in the Disney live action remake of The Little Mermaid.

During September 2020, it was confirmed that Styles will appear in the film Don't Worry, Darling directed by Olivia Wilde, replacing the role previously given to actor Shia LaBeouf.

Personal Life

Early Life

Harry during his childhood.

Harry Styles was born in Redditch, Worcestershire. He is the son of Anne Cox (née Selley) and Desmond "Des" Styles. Many of his ancestors were farm labourers in Norfolk. Styles was raised in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, after his parents moved there along with his older sister, Gemma, when he was a child. He attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School. Styles's parents divorced when he was seven and his mother later remarried his late step-father Robin Twist. As a sixteen-year-old he worked part-time at the W. Mandeville Bakery in Holmes Chapel.

Love Life

• During 2010, Harry dated Felicity Skinner. They separated after having a long distance relationship.
• He dated Caroline Flack in 2011. This caused controversy seeing as Styles was 17 at the time and Flack was 32.
• Styles dated American singer Taylor Swift from November 2012 till January 2013. Swift's fifth album 1989 features two songs confirmed to be about Harry: "Style" and "Out Of The Woods".
• He was rumoured to be dating model Kendall Jenner during 2013. He has been spotted numerous of times with Jenner during 2014 and 2015. Harry also attended her 21st birthday party in November of 2016.

Pets

• Harry had a black dog called Max.
• He also has a cat named Dusty.

Artistry and Influences

Harry loves singing since he was a child, noting Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley and The Beatles as his musical influences.

Filmography

Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	The X Factor	Himself	Contestant; Series 7
2012	iCarly		Guest role; (Season 6, Episode 2)
	Saturday Night Live		Musical guest; (Season 37, Episode 18)
2013	Saturday Night Live		Musical guest; (Season 39, Episode 8)
2014	Saturday Night Live		Musical guest; (Season 40, Episode 10)
	One Direction: The TV Special
2017	Saturday Night Live	Himself / Mick Jagger / Civil War Soldier	Episode: "Jimmy Fallon/Harry Styles"
	Harry Styles at the BBC	Himself	Television special
2018	Happy Together	N/A	Executive producer

Film
Year	Title	Role	Notes
2013	One Direction: This Is Us	Himself	Documentary concert film
2014	Where We Are - The Concert Film		Concert film
2017	Dunkirk	Alex	Acting debut
TBA	Don't Worry, Darling	Jack

Discography

Solo albums

• Harry Styles (2017)
• Fine Line (2019)

One Direction albums

• Up All Night (2011)
• Take Me Home (2012)
• Midnight Memories (2013)
• Four (2014)
• Made in the A.M. (2015)

Tours

• Harry Styles: Live on Tour (2017-18)

Trivia

• He had blonde hair as an infant.
• His zodiac sign is Aquarius.
• He is 6"1 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. He also has matching screw tattoos with the rest of One Direction (Not Niall) and Lou Teasdale.
• 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.