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Harry Styles rises from from teen heart-throb to music icon

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Agence France-Presse

<p>LONDON -- A decade after One Direction, Harry Styles has cemented his status as one of the world&#x27;s biggest pop stars, blending magnetic stagecraft with a modern vision of masculinity.</p><p>On Saturday, the British singer will open <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/music/2026/1/23/harry-styles-announces-world-tour-together-together-1056?obOrigUrl=true">a new months-long tour </a>with his first date in Amsterdam after <a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/entertainment/showbiz/music/2026/3/9/harry-styles-returns-with-kiss-all-the-time-disco-occasionally-1513">launching his fourth album </a>earlier this year.</p><p>&quot;Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally&quot; was released on March 6 and shot straight to the top of the charts in some 20 countries, including Britain, France and the United States.</p><p>It was a spectacular follow-up to &quot;Harry&#x27;s House&quot;, which was released in 2022 and won album of the year at the Grammy Awards.</p><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-15" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/DTvXa8xDtwP/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=675&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A15%2C%22os%22%3A16123642.299999982%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="611" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-15" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p>Spotted at just 16 on &quot;The X Factor&quot; television talent show, Styles rose to global fame in the chart-topping band formed in 2010 alongside Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne.</p><p>With their catchy pop-rock sound, One Direction, or 1D as they became known, sold nearly 70 million records before splitting up in 2016.</p><p>&quot;He has never ever talked about his time in One Direction with any kind of derision,&quot; said Hannah Banks, a creative industries specialist at Australia&#x27;s University of the Sunshine Coast. &quot;And I think that helps because all of One Direction fans -- which was a huge, huge amount of people -- came with him. He has just built upon that by doing slightly different music.&quot;</p><p>Styles quickly established his credentials as a solo artist.</p><p>His self-titled debut album in 2017 was followed in 2019 by &quot;Fine Line,&quot; which included the smash hit &quot;Watermelon Sugar&quot; and brought huge commercial success.</p><p>In the intervening years, he has attracted a growing, more diverse fanbase.</p><p>&quot;He&#x27;s gone from a highly managed and manufactured boy band member to a man who&#x27;s doing his own thing,&quot; said Sophie Cridland, a 37-year-old teacher and fan, pointing to his shift toward pop and electronic influences.</p><p>His album &quot;Harry&#x27;s House&quot; and his 2021 to 2023 &quot;Love On Tour&quot; sealed his transformation as someone who has &quot;brought a bit of the flair back&quot; to what some see as an increasingly bland male pop landscape.</p><p>He is set to play a record 12 shows at London&#x27;s 90,000-capacity Wembley Stadium in June, followed by a 30-date residency at New York&#x27;s Madison Square Garden from late August. The tour wraps up in December in Sydney.</p><div><br/></div><div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-17" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/CuDcN11I6jh/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=675&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A17%2C%22os%22%3A16152196.599999994%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="566" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-17" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><div><br/></div><div><strong>Pushing boundaries</strong></div><p>He has also turned himself into a style icon.</p><p>In 2020, Styles became the first man to appear solo on the cover pages of US Vogue, wearing a Gucci lace dress in one shot and a crinoline skirt by gender-fluid designer Harris Reed in another.</p><p>From sequined jumpsuits to flamboyant feather boas, skirts and pearl necklaces, his outfits recall stars such as David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, &quot;who were also famous for pushing gender boundaries,&quot;,= said Banks.</p><p>For fashion designer Nik Shimmin, Styles is &quot;a breath of fresh air&quot; who embodies &quot;a version of modern-day masculinity that a lot of people want to see.&quot;.=</p><p>Styles has consistently declined to label his sexuality, which has sparked some accusations of &quot;queerbaiting&quot; -- adopting queer aesthetics without clearly identifying with the LGBTQ community.</p><p>Publicly, he has only confirmed relationships with women.</p><p>According to the tabloid press, he became engaged in April to US actress Zoe Kravitz.</p><p>He has previously dated film director Olivia Wilde, as well as American superstar Taylor Swift and reality television personality Kendall Jenner.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>&#x27;Having fun&#x27;</strong></div><p>Although discreet about his private life, Styles has grown more outspoken politically.</p><p>He has encouraged young Americans to register to vote and raised funds for LGBTQ causes, said Louie Valencia, a humanities professor at Texas State University.</p><p>&quot;He really is trying to do something that brings hope to people in a world that&#x27;s very sceptical of these kinds of concepts like treating people with kindness,&quot; said Valencia.</p><p>He is teaching a course in Oxford this summer -- &quot;Harry Styles and the Cult of Celebrity.&quot;</p><p>Styles told the Times earlier this year he was excited about the upcoming tour.</p><p>&quot;When I listen back to the album, I can hear that I was having fun during this time. It&#x27;s fulfilling to make something you&#x27;re proud of,&quot; he said.</p>

<p>A decade after One Direction, Harry Styles has cemented his status as one of the world's biggest pop stars, blending magnetic stagecraft with a modern vision of masculinity.</p>

A decade after One Direction, Harry Styles has cemented his status as one of the world's biggest pop stars, blending magnetic stagecraft with a modern vision of masculinity.

Harry Styles rises from teen heart-throb to music icon

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Harry Styles rises from teen heart-throb to music icon

Agence France-Presse

Published May 15, 2026 12:22 PM PHT

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