Few stars have had as many reincarnations as Harry Styles. He began his career as a
teenage heartthrob in the group “One Direction” before going solo. Since then, Styles has
proven himself to be one of the most exciting young artists around. Here is the stunning
transformation of Harry Styles.
Harry Styles, born February 1st, 1994, was raised in the village of Holmes Chapel in
the North of England with his sister, Gemma Styles. His mother was always a big influence
on the children. As Gemma told “Vogue,”
"My mum loved to dress us up. I always hated it, and Harry was always quite into it."
Harry agreed with her, saying,
"As a kid I definitely liked fancy dress."
In addition to dressing up at home, Harry also became interested in the style of children's
plays. When he played a mouse, he got to wear tights for the first time. Referring to his
love of androgynous fashion, Harry said,
"I remember it was crazy to me that I was wearing a pair of tights [...] And that was
maybe where it all kicked off!"
As far as Harry's temperament as a child, Gemma explained that he was, quote, “very
loud.” She recalled that, as a kid, Harry was never scared of attracting attention.
She added,
“Even then he had that sort of magnetism that made people just want to watch him.”
So, it sounds like Harry showed signs of being destined for stardom even as a toddler.
Although Harry Styles' upbringing sounds pretty idyllic, it wasn't always easy. When Harry
was just 7 years old, his father left. Des Styles, Harry’s father, told the “Daily
Record” that he sat them down and told them he was leaving.
He added that, quote, "Everybody was in tears." He went on to explain that Harry didn't cry
much as a child, but the news of his parents' divorce was clearly heartbreaking. Des went
on to explain that he's still in touch with Harry and still gives him advice.
Harry's mother later remarried, and his stepfather, John Cox, became a second father to him. As
Cox told “The Mirror,” he was around for Harry's first-ever singing performance when
he was just 9. However, Cox and Harry's mother split after six years, and Cox and Harry fell
out of touch.
Because Harry has never had a steady father figure in his life, he was raised primarily
by his mother. In 2014, he posted an image on Instagram that read,
"Sometimes the king is a woman."
He captioned it, simply, "Hi mum." It's pretty clear that his mum became his rock as a child.
Harry Styles has been interested in music ever since he was a child. As the star explained
in an interview with “Rolling Stone,” his love of music stems from his grandparents.
He shared,
"When I was little, we got a karaoke machine and I sang Elvis, because that's what my grandparents
listened to. I made my grandfather a tape of me doing Elvis songs on one side and all
Eminem on the other side."
It's clear that Harry's grandfather's influence had a big impact on him. And when his grandfather
got Parkinson's disease, Harry became an excellent caretaker. As Styles' mother told “The Express,”
he was, quote, "absolutely brilliant." She gushed,
"[Harry and Gemma] love him to death and he is so proud of them."
Harry Styles had been interested in singing as a child, but it wasn't until he was 16
that his career really began. It all started when his mother took him down to London to
audition for the talent competition "The X Factor." As he recalled to “Vogue”,
"I went to the audition to find out if I could sing or if my mum was just being nice to me."
At the time, Styles expressed his enthusiasm for the competition in a backstage interview,
saying,
"I've always wanted to do it, and my mum's always wanted me to do it. [...] This is the
first year that I'm old enough to do it so I thought I'd give it a whirl. [...] If I
was to get through it would just be everything. [...] it's everything that I want to do."
Luckily, Styles was chosen to go through, and the rest is history. Even though Styles
was later eliminated, the judges of the show brought him and four other contestants back:
Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik. They formed a new boy band
called “One Direction.”
As a member of One Direction, Harry Styles quickly shot to fame. In fact, the band became
one of the most popular musical acts of its time. They even racked up six Guinness World
Records before they broke up in 2016. One Direction's records included the record for
a music group with the most Twitter followers, most popular dance track, and most subscribers
on a YouTube channel for a band.
As Styles told “Vogue,” he has no regrets about being in the band. He explained,
"I loved my time in it. It was all new to me, and I was trying to learn as much as I
could. I wanted to soak it in. [...] I think that's probably why I like traveling now,
soaking stuff up."
For Styles, being a part of One Direction taught him about being a professional in the
music industry; it also made him a small fortune. When Styles was just 18 years old, he bought
his own house in London. As he told “Vogue,” when he finally moved into his home, he cried
because he finally felt like he had somewhere to belong and call home.
Harry Styles has had several major relationships in his life, but his time dating Taylor Swift
captured plenty of fans' attention. The pair got together in 2012 just as One Direction
was blowing up around the world. While the relationship was relatively short-lived, lasting
only a few months, it made a big impact on Styles' artistic sensibilities. As he told
“Rolling Stone,”
"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 [...] I'm lucky if everything [we went] through helped create
those songs."
In an interview with “The Howard Stern Show,” Styles explained that he would always support
Swift if she wanted to write about him. He shared,
"I think it's, like, flattering. Even if the song isn't that flattering, you still spent
time on it and ultimately, using Taylor as an example, she's a great songwriter. So they're
good songs."
After singing in the One Direction boy band for years, Harry Styles finally went solo
in 2017 with his self-titled debut album. For Styles, a solo album felt like the natural
career progression at the time. In fact, he'd been writing and recording his own music while
still in the band.
In another interview with “USA Today,” Styles said that this first album was all
about musical experimentation. He explained,
"I was very much working out what I wanted the album to be until picking the track listing,
and I wanted people to go through that with me when listening to that, instead of picking
a sound and writing ten of the same things."
In 2017, Harry Styles made another major life change: he gave up meat and became a pescatarian.
As he told “Vogue,” the transition was inspired by his vegan band members. He explained,
"My body definitely feels better for it."
In addition to cutting meat out of his diet, Styles also took up a variety of wellness
habits, including Pilates, meditation, and even the occasional juice cleanse.
In an interview on “BBC Radio 1” in 2017, Styles opened up about his pescatarian lifestyle
in a little more detail. Apparently, Brussels sprouts are one of his favorite foods. And
in another interview with “NPR” in 2020, Styles once again spoke about his diet. While
he stated that he didn't eat meat, he also confessed that he definitely wasn't going
vegan any time soon, thanks to his love for cheese.
Over the years, as Harry Styles has matured, he's learned a lot about love. One of his
biggest influences is the writer Alain de Botton. As he told “Vogue,” de Botton's
novel "The Course of Love" changed the way he viewed romance. He said,
"When it comes to relationships, you just expect yourself to be good at it [...] [but]
being in a real relationship with someone is a skill."
Styles reportedly began dating actress Olivia Wilde early in 2021, and the pair are still
reportedly going strong. Whether or not Wilde will prove to be the one for Styles, it's
clear that he's making his relationships a priority. As he revealed on “The Howard
Stern Show,” getting married is something he, quote, “would like to do." Based on
Styles' mature comments about relationship harmony being a work of skill, we're sure
his future wife will enjoy a happy, healthy relationship.
Harry Styles released his second album entitled "Fine Line" in 2020. As he told “NPR,”
he'd changed a lot as an artist since making his first album. For one thing, Styles had
stopped caring so much about what other people thought. He shared,
"I think if you're making what you want to make, then ultimately no one can tell you
you're unsuccessful, because you're doing what makes you happy."
He went on to explain that his favorite bit of being a musician isn't the performance
— it's the practicing. He explained,
"Those are the moments that kind of mean the most because it's real. And when everything
else about being in music goes away, that's the stuff that I think you end up telling
your grandkids."
As any fans of Harry Styles will know, he's become an icon of androgynous style over the
years. His daring, controversial outfits defy gender stereotypes and almost always become
a talking point. In an interview with “L'Officiel”, Styles said,
"A lot of borders are falling, in fashion but also in music, movies, art [...] I don't
think people are still looking for this gender differentiation."
Styles went on to explain that his stylist, Alessandro Michele, is a collaborator who
helps him find clothes that he likes, regardless of which gender they were designed for.
“I don’t know. Having fun with clothes. I think fashion’s supposed to be fun, so.”
As if Harry Styles wasn't already talented enough, in 2017 he made his professional acting
debut in the feature film "Dunkirk." Since then, he's been cast in two more feature films:
"Don't Worry Darling" and "My Policeman". For Styles, acting is a passion. As he told
“Today,” starring in "Dunkirk" was one of the best experiences he'd ever had. And,
as the singer told “Another Man,” acting was actually something he'd been passionate
about for years. He explained,
"It's something I've always wanted to explore but I was busy with the band so I never felt
like I had time to do it the right way."
Styles went on to explain how his first day on the set of "Dunkirk" was one of the hardest
days of work he'd ever done.
“It was pretty crazy.”
In 2020, the world shut down as the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the globe. For Harry
Styles, this meant taking a hiatus from his typically fast-paced routine. In an interview
with “1Xtra radio,” Styles opened up about how his life changed. He explained that he
spent his time with friends in a little safe self-isolation pod. He went on to say,
"We're just being careful, listening to music, playing games, doing some face masks, you
know, the classic quarantine stuff."
Styles also shared that he'd used the time off to pick up a few new things.
"Now is the perfect time to learn a new skill or try a new hobby or something, right? [...] We
have nothing but time. I was learning Italian, and I was doing some sign language classes."
Of course, Styles had to get back to work pretty quickly. In May of 2021, he was spotted
in the English countryside filming his new movie "My Policeman". We can only hope this
means we'll see him on our big screens again soon!
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