2010–2015: The X Factor and One Direction Following a suggestion from his mother, on 11 April 2010, Styles auditioned as a solo contestant for the
seventh series of the British televised singing competition
The X Factor, singing a rendition of
Train's "
Hey, Soul Sister". After
Simon Cowell suggested that the track was not right for him, he instead sang a rendition of
Stevie Wonder's "
Isn't She Lovely". He advanced to bootcamp but failed to progress further to the "Boys" category of the competition. Four other solo contestants in his age group who were also eliminated were put together to form a boy band in July 2010 to compete in the "Groups" category, mentored by Cowell. The group consisting of Styles,
Niall Horan,
Liam Payne,
Louis Tomlinson, and
Zayn Malik practised for two weeks; Styles suggested the name
One Direction to his colleagues which they agreed to. They began to gain considerable popularity in the UK, and within the first four weeks of the live shows, were Cowell's last contestant in the competition. The group eventually reached the final of
The X Factor and became the last contestant eliminated on the show. In January 2011, One Direction signed a recording contract with Cowell's label
Syco Records. Their
UK number one debut single, "
What Makes You Beautiful", and their debut studio album,
Up All Night, were released later that year. The album, which contained three songs co-written by Styles, debuted at number one in the United States. Their four succeeding studio albums—
Take Me Home (2012),
Midnight Memories (2013),
Four (2014) and
Made in the A.M. (2015)—all debuted at number one in the UK. in 2013
Midnight Memories was the world's best-selling album of 2013, and its accompanying
Where We Are Tour was the highest-grossing tour of 2014. After the release of
Four, One Direction became the only group in the 58-year history of the
Billboard 200 albums chart to have their first four albums debut at number one. The albums spawned a string of successful singles, including "
Live While We're Young", "
Little Things", "
Best Song Ever", "
Story of My Life", "
Drag Me Down" and "
History". Styles also co-wrote the song "Just a Little Bit of Your Heart" for
Ariana Grande's 2014 album
My Everything. Not wanting to "exhaust" the fan base, upon Styles's suggestion, One Direction went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016, after completing promotional activities related to
Made in the A.M. As of March 2015, One Direction have sold 70 million records worldwide since their debut, including 7.6 million albums and 26 million singles in the US, becoming one of the
best-selling boy bands of all time. The group amassed
numerous accolades, including seven
Brit Awards, seven
American Music Awards, six
Billboard Music Awards, and four
MTV Video Music Awards. While Styles has been generally positive about his time in One Direction, he has revealed that the hyper-visibility he experienced while being in the band was not always easy to deal with. He has spoken about being scared of saying the wrong things in interviews and of fear that not answering questions such as the number of people he slept with would cause journalists to leave the interview annoyed with him. Around this time, he also launched his own record label,
Erskine Records. The song peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart and number four on the US
Billboard Hot 100. A
glam rock-influenced
soft rock power ballad, it drew comparisons to the work of
David Bowie.
Rolling Stone ranked "Sign of the Times" as the best song of 2017. Its music video featured Styles flying and walking on water and won the
Brit Award for British Video of the Year. In April, Styles was a musical guest on
Saturday Night Live in the US and made his debut televised solo performance in the UK on
The Graham Norton Show. , in 2018 Styles's debut studio album,
Harry Styles, was released in May 2017, whereupon it debuted at number one in several countries, including Australia, the UK and the US. The record was influenced by 1970s soft rock and was described by
Variety as a "classic cocktail of psychedelia, Britpop, and balladry." It received generally favourable reviews from critics and was included in several publications' lists of the best albums of 2017.
Harry Styles yielded two more singles, "
Two Ghosts" and "
Kiwi". The film
Harry Styles: Behind the Album, which documented the writing and recording process for the album, was released in May exclusively on
Apple Music. Styles embarked on his first headlining concert tour,
Harry Styles: Live on Tour, from September 2017 through to July 2018, performing in North and South Americas, Europe, Asia, and Australia. During the tour, Styles debuted two unreleased songs, "Anna" and "
Medicine". Styles made his feature film debut in
Christopher Nolan's war film
Dunkirk, in July 2017, playing a British soldier named Alex in the
Dunkirk evacuation during
World War II. He appeared alongside an
ensemble cast which included
Fionn Whitehead,
Tom Glynn-Carney,
Jack Lowden,
Kenneth Branagh,
Cillian Murphy,
Mark Rylance, and
Tom Hardy. Styles won the part over "thousands of young men"; Nolan later admitted he was unaware of the extent of Styles's fame and that he was cast "because he fit the part wonderfully and truly earned a seat at the table."
The Daily Telegraph film critic
Robbie Collin praised Styles for his "bright, convicted, and unexpectedly not-at-all-jarring performance." In November 2017,
BBC One broadcast
Harry Styles at the BBC, a one-hour
television special presented by
Nick Grimshaw. Later that month, he performed at the
Victoria's Secret Fashion Show held in
Shanghai. At the
2017 ARIA Music Awards, Styles received the
Best International Artist award. He guest-hosted
The Late Late Show with James Corden in December. Together with
Jack Antonoff and
Ilsey Juber, Styles co-wrote "Alfie's Song (Not So Typical Love Song)", performed by the band
Bleachers, for the soundtrack of the film
Love, Simon (2018). He also served as an executive producer on
CBS's sitcom
Happy Together, which premiered in October 2018 and was inspired by his time living with television producer
Ben Winston and his wife. In 2018, Styles began modelling for the Italian fashion house
Gucci, appearing in several campaigns for the brand.
2019–2021: Fine Line In July 2019, it was reported that Styles was in early talks to play
Prince Eric in the live-action Disney film
The Little Mermaid (2023). He ultimately turned the part down for various reasons which included touring and wanting to pursue darker roles. "
Lights Up", the lead single from Styles's second album,
Fine Line, was released in October 2019, debuting at number three in the UK. The song featured a "soft-touch re-entry into the pop slipstream", according to music writer
Jon Caramanica. Styles served as both host and musical guest on
Saturday Night Live in November. The second single preceding
Fine Line, "
Adore You", was released in December, peaking at number seven in the UK and number six in the US. That month, Styles again guest-hosted
The Late Late Show with James Corden. in
Chicago in 2021
Fine Line was released on 13 December. The album was recorded at the
Shangri-La studio in
Malibu, California, with the same production team behind Styles's debut album, and features a similar sound to
Harry Styles while also incorporating elements of funk and soul. It received generally positive reviews from critics. The album peaked at number two in the UK and topped the US charts, breaking the record as the biggest sales debut from an English male artist in the US since
Nielsen SoundScan began electronically tracking sales data in 1991.
Rolling Stone ranked it at number 491 in their 2020 list of the "
500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Five other singles, "
Falling", "
Watermelon Sugar", "
Golden", "
Treat People with Kindness", and
the title track, were released from the album. "Watermelon Sugar" became Styles's fourth UK top-ten single, peaking at number four, as well as his first number-one single in the US. A tour to support
Fine Line, entitled
Love On Tour, which was originally set to take place throughout 2020, was postponed until 2021 due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. At the
2020 Brit Awards, Styles was nominated for
British Male Solo Artist and
British Album of the Year. In March 2020, he performed an
NPR Tiny Desk concert, and in July, he narrated a
bedtime story titled
Dream with Me for the relaxation app
Calm. Styles co-wrote the song "Changes" for
Cam's album
The Otherside. Later that year, Styles won the
Favorite Pop/Rock Album award for
Fine Line at the
48th American Music Awards, the Best International Artist award at the
34th ARIA Music Awards, and the
Chart Achievement Award at the
27th Billboard Music Awards. He was also named
Varietys Hitmaker of the Year. At the
63rd Annual Grammy Awards in March 2021, he received three nominations for
Best Pop Vocal Album (
Fine Line),
Best Pop Solo Performance ("Watermelon Sugar"), and
Best Music Video ("Adore You"), winning for Best Pop Solo Performance. "Watermelon Sugar" also earned Styles his second Brit Award for
British Single of the Year during the
2021 ceremony. After previous postponement,
Love On Tour kicked off on 4 September 2021 in Las Vegas. At the 2021
Ivor Novello Awards, "Adore You" won the award for Most Performed Work. Styles made a
cameo appearance as
Eros / Starfox, brother of
Thanos, in the
mid-credits scene of the
Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film
Eternals, released in November 2021. He launched his gender-neutral skin and nail care brand,
Pleasing, that month.
2022–2024: ''Harry's House'' and further acting roles in 2022 In 2022, Styles achieved critical and commercial success with his third album, ''
Harry's House. Its lead single, "As It Was", debuted atop the UK and US charts, becoming his second solo number-one single in both countries. In the US, it became the fourth-longest-running number-one in history, at 15 weeks. The album similarly debuted atop the UK and US charts. During Harry's House
release week, Styles occupied the top spot of the album and singles charts in over fifteen countries, with Harry's House'' and "As It Was". Styles headlined the
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April to a crowd of over 100,000 people. In June 2022, Styles and the single "
Music for a Sushi Restaurant" were featured in an
AirPods commercial. The following month, ''Harry's House
was short-listed for the Mercury Prize. "As It Was" became Billboard''
number-one song of 2022 globally and
IFPI's
best-selling global single of the year. At the
2022 MTV Video Music Awards, Styles received three accolades, including
Album of the Year for ''Harry's House
. The album also won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 65th Grammy Awards, and British Album of the Year at the 43rd Brit Awards. At the 50th American Music Awards, Styles won Favorite Male Pop Artist and Favorite Pop Song ("As It Was"). Rolling Stone
ranked Harry's House'' at number 491 on its 2023 revision of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. '' (2022), featuring Styles as Tom Burgess and
David Dawson as Patrick Hazlewood Styles auditioned for the role of Elvis Presley in
Baz Luhrmann's musical biopic
Elvis (2022). Luhrmann stated that while "Harry is a really talented actor ... the real issue with Harry is, he's Harry Styles. He's already an icon." Styles starred alongside
Florence Pugh in the 2022 psychological thriller film ''
Don't Worry Darling'', directed by
Olivia Wilde. Having premiered at the
79th Venice International Film Festival, the film, as well as his performance, received mixed reviews. Steph Green from the
BBC wrote, "Harry Styles doesn't feel up to the material here, with leaden line delivery and a lack of light and shade making his scenes opposite Pugh fall flat". Some critics were more positive;
Owen Gleiberman from
Variety wrote, "With his popping eyes, floppy shock of hair, and saturnine suaveness, he recalls the young
Frank Sinatra as an actor". Styles also starred alongside
David Dawson and
Emma Corrin in the romantic drama film
My Policeman, which premiered at the
2022 Toronto International Film Festival. The film's main cast members were awarded the
TIFF Tribute Award for Performance. Critics were divided on the film and Styles's performance. Robert Daniels of
RogerEbert.com wrote, "Here, Styles' inexperience as a leading man in a weepy British queer period piece is glaring", while Caryn James from the BBC opined that Styles "is far more convincing and has a much fuller, more grounded role in
My Policeman" compared to his ''Don't Worry Darling'' performance. In August and September 2022, as part of his Love On Tour, Styles performed 15 sold-out shows at
Madison Square Garden; to mark the achievement, a permanent banner was raised inside the venue. Styles became the third musical artist in history to have a banner raised at Madison Square Garden. In November 2022, Styles collaborated with
Alessandro Michele on a Gucci collection titled "Gucci Ha Ha Ha". Love On Tour concluded in July 2023 as the then-
fifth-highest-grossing tour of all time, earning $617.3 million. Styles provided background vocals on bandmate
Mitch Rowland's track "Here Comes the Comeback", released in September 2023. In July 2024, Styles joined
Stevie Nicks on stage at the
British Summer Time festival in London to perform "
Stop Draggin' My Heart Around" and "
Landslide" in tribute of
Christine McVie's birthday.
2025–present: Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. In late December 2025, Styles shared a video to his YouTube channel entitled "Forever, Forever". The eight-and-a-half minute video depicted the final night of
Love On Tour at RCF Arena Campovolo in
Reggio Emilia circa July 2023. It also showed footage of the final song performed that evening, which was an untitled
ambient instrumental composition that featured Styles on piano. The video ended with the words "we belong together" appearing on the screen. On 12 January 2026, posters displaying that same phrase were discovered in various cities globally. These posters directed individuals to a website, which subsequently redirected them to a
WhatsApp group. Two days later, a voice memo of Styles mumbling "we belong together" was sent to fans through text. On 15 January 2026, Styles announced his fourth studio album, entitled
Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. The album was released on 6 March 2026. The lead single, "
Aperture", was announced on 20 January and released on 23 January. On 22 January, Styles announced
Together, Together, a series of concert residencies in seven cities. In 2026, Harry Styles was announced as the curator of the 31st edition of
Meltdown Festival, to be held at the
Southbank Centre in London. The 2026 edition forms part of the Centre’s 75th anniversary year, with Styles headlining the festival and curating the programme of musical and cultural events. ==Artistry==