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Harry Styles
From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist
Harry Styles is an English singer, songwriter and actor, born in Redditch in 1994 and raised in the village of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire. As a child he sang along to his grandfather's karaoke machine, and the first song he recorded was The Girl of My Best Friend by Elvis Presley. In 2010 he auditioned for The X Factor as a solo artist. He was eliminated, but was put into a group with four other rejected boys. Styles came up with the name: One Direction. The boy band became one of the most successful in the world and went on hiatus in 2016.
Music and breakthrough
Styles then began a solo career. His debut Harry Styles (2017) opened with Sign of the Times, a power ballad with glam rock influences that was compared to David Bowie. The album leaned on the soft rock of the 1970s. On Fine Line (2019) funk and soul were added, with Watermelon Sugar as his first number 1 in the United States. Harry's House (2022) won the Grammy for album of the year, and the single As It Was became the biggest hit of that year worldwide. In 2026 came Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Influence
Styles shows how a pop star from a television programme can grow into an artist with a face of his own. His music often looks back to the rock and pop of the 1970s, but sounds contemporary thanks to modern production. He also stands out for his flamboyant clothing, with which he probed the boundaries between menswear and womenswear. He has also acted in films such as Dunkirk (2017).
Listening
Discography
Studio albums
In School of Rock
The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.
- Mixtape 2: Youth Cultures 1950-1980NL Reader