Harry Styles Merch

Early Life - Harry Styles Merch

Harry Edward Styles was born on February 1, 1994, in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, in the West Midlands region of England. His parents, Des and Anne, divorced when he was 7 years old. He and his sister Gemma were brought up by their mother in the town of Holmes Chapel in Cheshire. His mother was later remarried, to Robin Twist.

Styles attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, where he and three of his friends formed a band called White Eskimo. Styles was White Eskimo’s lead singer, and the band was popular enough to win a band competition at their school. After school and on weekends, Styles worked at the W. Mandeville bakery in Holmes Chapel.

Harry Styles Merch

Career

Following a suggestion from his mother, on April 11, 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 wasn’t right for him, he instead sang a rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely?” He advanced to boot camp but failed to progress further.

Four others in his age group who were also eliminated were put together to form a 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, practiced for two weeks; Styles suggested the name One Direction to his bandmates, and they agreed to keep it. They began to gain considerable popularity in the UK, and within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell’s last act in the competition. The group eventually reached the final of The X Factor and finished in third place.

In January 2011, One Direction signed a recording contract with Simon 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, made One Direction the first British group to have their debut album reach number one in the United States. Their four subsequent 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. 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 and remains the highest-grossing tour of all time by a vocal group.

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  “Little  “Best Song  “Story of My  “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.

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