Harry Styles has established himself as the new king of pop

Ten years after One Direction, Harry Styles crushes everything in his path.getty/watson

Forgotten, the era of the boyband One Direction: Harry Styles now fills the biggest stadiums in the world on his own and imposes flamboyant, danceable and ultra-calibrated pop. Between gender-neutral looks, planetary hits and discreet political commitment, the Briton has transformed into a global cultural phenomenon.

Clara LALANNE, London / afp

Ten years after the separation of One Direction, British singer Harry Styles, who is going on tour this Saturday in Amsterdam with his fourth album, has established himself as one of the biggest popstars in the world with his stage presence and his incarnation of a new masculinity.

“Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally”, his new very danceable opus released on March 6, immediately rose to the top of the charts in around twenty countries including the United Kingdom, France and the United States, four years after “Harry’s House”, crowned with the prize for best album of the year at the Grammy Awards.

He is one of the rare singers to have received this prestigious award after starting his career in a male group, like Paul McCartney, Michael Jackson or Justin Timberlake.

Harry Styles has never denied his time in One Direction, and the group’s fans, whose number is colossal, followed him. He was able to rely on them while offering music that was a little different,” Hannah Banks, specialist in creative industries at the Australian University of the Sunshine Coast, told AFP. The 32-year-old singer, who will give a record number of 12 concerts at Wembley Stadium (90,000 seats) in London in June, before 30 dates at Madison Square Garden in New York from the end of August, was spotted at 16 in the show The band” One Direction in 2010.

Brown curls and shy smile, the young Englishman born near Birmingham became the idol of teenage girls around the world with Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson and Liam Payne – who died in 2024. They sold nearly 70 million records with their catchy pop rock, then separated in 2016 before each launching their own solo.

The boyband, in 2013.Keystone

“Harry Styles”, his first album in 2017, then “Fine Line” and his hit “Watermelon Sugar” (2019), are huge commercial successes. New fans are joining the ranks, like Sophie Cridland, a 37-year-old teacher: “He went from a boy band singer, with a very formatted style, to that of an artist who follows his own path”, moving towards pop and electronic music.

The album “Harry’s House” confirms his artistic transformation, and the “Love On Tour”, which began in 2021, reveals a stage beast, who “brings back a little spice” to male celebrities “Quite boring,” according to this fan.

No label

The singer also plays with his looks and collaborates with many stylists, before becoming in 2020 the first man on the front page of the American edition of Vogueon which he wears a dress by Gucci. He also appears in this magazine in a crinoline skirt by designer Harris Reed, a fan of gender-neutral fashion.

The art of breaking free from codes: Harry Styles enjoys mixing styles.image: vogue

From high-cut sequined jumpsuits to dazzling boas, her outfits are “full of references” to icons of the ’80s, like David Bowie or Freddie Mercury, also “known for pushing the boundaries of the genre,” emphasizes Hannah Banks. For Nik Shimmin, an Australian fashion designer who is a fan of Bowie and The Rolling Stones, “who took to the stage with fantastic colors and clothes”, Harry Styles is a “breath of fresh air”, who “embodies a modern version of masculinity”.

The singer has always refused to “put a label” on his sexual orientation. Which, however, earned him accusations of “queerbaiting” – the fact of appropriating the codes of the LGBT+ community without being part of it –, the star having only been publicly in a relationship with women.

According to the celebrity press, he got engaged in April to actress Zoe Kravitz, after dating director Olivia Wilde, and previously to Taylor Swift and Kendall Jenner. The singer, who took a long break before this album, revealed in an Apple Music podcast that the death of Liam Payne, at the age of 31, had made him “take a step back”, after fifteen years of releasing albums and tours.

Even if he is discreet about his private life and his opinions, Harry Styles has “more clearly engaged on the political level” in recent years, encouraging young people to register to vote in the United States or raising funds for LGBT+ organizations, underlines Louie Dean Valencia, science professor, to AFP Humanities at Texas State University. This summer he will give a course dedicated to the singer at the prestigious University of Oxford.

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