Harry Styles Artistfacts

February 1, 1994
Following a suggestion from his mother, Harry Styles auditioned as a solo contestant for the 2010 series of the British singing TV competition The X Factor. He failed to make it beyond boot camp, but guest judge Nicole Scherzinger suggested the 16-year-old singer team up with Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Zayn Malik for the Groups category. Styles suggested the name One Direction to his bandmates, and they reached the final, finishing in third place.
One Direction became one of the best-selling boy groups of all time. At the peak of their fame, Styles stayed for 20 months at the Hampstead Heath family home of television producer Ben Winston. He slept on a mattress in an attic, living there in secrecy as his fans stood outside a North London house he didn't actually live in. "No one ever found out, really," Winston recalled to Rolling Stone. "Even when we went out for a meal, it's such a sweet family neighborhood, no one dreamed it was actually him. But he made our house a home. And when he moved out, we were gutted."
When One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Styles embarked on a solo career. He released his first single, "Sign of the Times," in April 2017.
"As It Was," the lead single of Styles' 2022 album, Harry's Game, spent 15 weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. It broke the record for the longest-running US #1 by a UK act.
Styles became the first former X Factor contestant to win a Grammy when he won Best Pop Solo Performance for "Watermelon Sugar."
Styles made his movie acting debut in the 2017 Christopher Nolan feature Dunkirk. Later film roles include Don't Worry Darling, and My Policeman (both in 2022).
He dated his Don't Worry Darling director Olivia Wilde for two years from late 2020. Styles also had a much-documented romance with Taylor Swift over the winter of 2012-13. The American pop superstar has penned several songs inspired by their relationship, including "Style," "Out Of The Woods," "All You Had To Do Was Stay" and "I Know Places."
Styles splits his time between London and LA. When he's in California, the English singer buys imported British food as he misses the taste of home. The grub that he loves from his home country includes Branston Pickle and Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles.
Styles is known for his flamboyant fashion, including a penchant for wearing a dress or two. In December 2020, he became the first man to appear solo on the cover of Vogue.

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