Almost two years ago, Styles arguably reached the top of his career. Started his triumph at the tender age of 16. Now the pop star has turned 30.
Harry Styles was 16 years old when he took part in the British talent show “The X Factor” and was also working part-time in a bakery. Together with four other boys, he won bronze in the competition under the band name One Direction. But Sony Music seemed enthusiastic enough: a record deal worth two million pounds was on offer. And of course a whole crowd of young, primarily female fans who they knew how to serve. From then on, the part-time job was over.
Singer Harry Styles about ten years ago. Imago / Genin Nicolas/abaca
The first number, “What Makes You Beautfiul”, an ode to beauty and the incomprehensible self-doubt of the love object, went straight to number one in the charts in Great Britain and Ireland. A first record and tour followed. A final album, “Made in the AM,” was released in 2015, and One Direction announced a long-term break in 2016.
Solo towards heaven
At the same time the beginning of Styles’ solo career, an extremely successful one. The first single “Sign Of The Times” climbed straight to the top of the British charts again in 2017, and in Austria he achieved this five years later with “As It Was”. In the same year he played in front of 16,000 people in the Wiener Stadthalle, and the “Presse” praised the artist’s voice and charm. Just a year later, the star attracted 60,000 fans to Vienna’s Ernst Happel Stadium. By then he was already being recited as the king of pop. The “Presse” described the 2023 event as a perfect concert, but one that was almost eye-catching.
The catchy pop with references to the 80s also earned him praise from other critics, as well as quiet folk (“From The Dining Table” or “Cherry”). His good image outside of music also plays a role in the now 30-year-old’s solo success.
“Treat People With Kindness” is the name of a song by Styles, and it also seems to be his motto as a stage character. The “press” has already devoted itself to the emphatically flawless pop figure. Just a few examples: He speaks publicly about his experiences with therapy; Models he worked with for a music video called him the “king of consent” – he always asked if it was okay before attacking them according to a stage direction (keyword: consent).
In this way he is very contemporary. And probably the most famous advocate of a new, gentle masculinity, which is also attributed to other Hollywood darlings such as the two actors Jeremy Allen White (“The Bear”) and Jacob Elordi (“Saltburn”, “Priscilla”). From a fashion perspective, he is the most androgynous of the three, impressing with pearl necklaces, plush clothes and dresses, even being the first man on the cover of “Vogue”.
Since his last tour date, things have become quieter around the pop star. Recent attempts at acting, for example in Christopher Nolan’s war film “Dunkirk” or Olivia Wilde’s thriller “Don’t Worry Darling”, were only moderately successful. Music is probably his profession. Maybe his heyday is already over? This will probably only become apparent in the next project. In the meantime all you can do is wish him a happy thirties. (evdin)
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