One Direction: Harry Styles tattoos

Harry Edward Styles (born February 1, 1994) is a member ofOne Direction along with Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, and Niall Horan. He is the youngest member of the group.

Early Life

Harry Styles was born in Redditch, Worcestershire, England to Des Styles and Anne Cox. ^[1] As a child Harry loved singing and was heavily influenced by iconic artists such as Elvis Presley and The Rolling Stones.

Growing up, Harry lived in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, England and attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School, a state comprehensive school. Harry mentioned in his 2010 X Factor audition that he planned to study law, and, in a 2015 interview, again commented that he would've studied to be a lawyer, if music hadn't worked out. In a 2016 feature article for AnOther Man Magazine, Harry's sisterGemma revealed he also considered a career in physiotherapy.

Musical Career

Early Beginnings

Harry was the lead singer for the band White Eskimo with band members Hayden Morris (lead guitarist), Nick Clough (bass guitarist), and Will Sweeny (drummer).^[2] They came together to compete in a Battle of the Bands. The band won the competition, and it helped Harry realize that he loved performing in front of people.

X Factor

In 2010, when he was sixteen years old, Harry auditioned for the seventh season of The X Factor. He wanted professional opinions on his singing, stating "Singing is what I want to do, and if people who can make that happen for me don't think that I should be doing that, then it's a major setback in my plans." Harry sang "Isn't She Lovely" and received positive comments fromSimon Cowell and Nicole Scherzinger, while Louis Walsh had doubts on whether he was ready to progress in the competition. At bootcamp, Harry sang "Stop Crying Your Heart Out" before being rejected and ultimately placed into the randomly arranged boy band One Direction. After placing third in the competition, One Direction signed a recording contract with Sony Music subsidiary Syco Music. The band released their debut studio album, Up All Night, in November 2011. One Direction released four more albums over the next four years; Take Me Home, Midnight Memories, Fourand Made in the A.M..

Songwriting Beginnings

In a May 2016 interview, Snow Patrol singer Johnny McDaid revealed he'd written many songs with Harry over the years^[3]. In 2014, Harry co-wrote numerous songs with pop singer Meghan Trainor^[4] and rock band Kodaline^[5]. Harry also wrote a song titled "Just A Little Bit Of Your Heart", which was given to Ariana Grande for her album My Everything^[6]. Grande performed the song with Coldplay's Chris Martin at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival. In January and April 2016, Meghan Trainor denied any songs she wrote with Harry would be appearing on her 2016 album Thank You.

Solo Career Developments

New Representation

On January 26 2016, it was announced Harry had signed with PR management team DawBell. On February 1 2016, his 22nd birthday, it was confirmed he had officially cut ties with Modest Managementand would now be managed by longtime friend Jeff Azoff^[7], son of music mogul Irving Azoff. Executives for Modest confirmed the split, stating "We wish Harry the very best. It has been a real pleasure working with him. Harry is a total gentleman, and we know our good friend Jeffrey Azoff will look after him."

Solo Music

On May 25, 2016 UK tabloid The Sun published an alleged quote from OneRepublic lead singer/songwriter Ryan Tedder stating he would be featured on Harry's debut solo album. However, Tedder later clarified the misquote on Twitter, stating "I am not "featured" on Harry Styles album. We wrote a cpl tunes together, who knows where the universe takes em!"^[8]. Tedder later tweeted there was no album that he knew of in the works. On August 25th, jazz singer Michael Buble confirmed a song on his upcoming album, titled Someday, was co-written by Harry Styles and Meghan Trainor^[9]. On November 28th, UK singer Robbie Williams stated in an interview with the Belfast Telegraph that he had run into Harry at an airport, who told him he had been songwriting with US singer Bruno Mars and Swedish producer Max Martin^[10]. On February 9 2017, Columbia Records CEO Rob Stringer confirmed Harry's debut album release was imminent, stating: "We're close and we're very excited. We have a record we're incredibly excited about and it’s not far away from being ready. We obviously want everything to be beautifully done, because we think he's here to stay. Harry has stepped up with the vision of someone who's authentic."^[11]

Harry on set may 2016 — Harry with director Christopher Nolan on 'Dunkirk' set. May 2016.

Film Role

On March 11 2016, mainstream media outlets reported Harry had secured a role in Christopher Nolan's 2017 war film Dunkirk^[12]. While there was never official confirmation, Harry was eventually photographed in costume on set from May 2016 onward. His co-stars spoke highly of his acting skills and Nolan reportedly extended Harry's role, giving him more dialogue and more camera time. Harry travelled to Holland in July to film on location, and wrapped filming in Los Angeles in September 2016. Dunkirk is slated for a July 21, 2017 premiere date.

Screen Shot 2016-09-27 at 4.47.16 PM — Harry's three Another Man covers. Released September 29, 2016.

Other

On July 5th 2016, Harry was a guest for Professor Robert Winston, Ben Winston's father, at the House Of Lords, to hear the debate about the impact of the Brexit.

On September 26, 2016, Harry revealed via Instagram three different special edition cover shoots for issue 23 of AnOther Man Magazine, an upscale men's fashion magazine. The magazine went on sale from 29 September and features two interviews conducted by Sir Paul McCartney and Chelsea Handler^[13], as well as an article written by Harry's sister,Gemma. The photoshoot - featuring over 30 exclusive new images of Harry - took place between May and July 2016, and documents Harry's hair being cut short again for the first time in three years. The covers see Harry emulating McCartney and Rolling Stones lead singer Mick Jagger.

On December 22 2016, Harry placed #26 on GQ's 50 Best Dressed Men 2017^[14].

Personal Life

Family

Harry's parents are Anne Twist and Desmond Styles. Anne and Des are divorced, and Anne has since remarried to Robin Twist. Harry has one older sister, Gemma, who works as a journalist for The Debrief. He has several tattoos dedicated to various family members. His family owns a cat named Dusty and his sister recently became the owner of a cat named Olivia. Harry has three cousins, Matt, Ella and Ben Selley.

Relationships

Felicity Skinner

Harry dated Felicity Skinner for a year, when both were 15. In 2012, Skinner told media she had not contacted Harry since 2010. She described him as "a really good boyfriend, very romantic and, yes, shy." She said the relationship was long distance and their break up was a matter of drifting apart.^[15]

Caroline Flack

Harry allegedly dated Caroline Flack in 2011, when he was 17 and she was 32. Their relationship caused controversy because of their fifteen year age gap. They met in 2010 when Harry was a contestant on The X Factor, and Flack was co-host of companion show, The Xtra Factor. Romance rumors grew after October 16, 2011, when it was reported that Harry and Caroline were seen kissing at an X Factor after party. Rumors went unproven until December 2011, when Harry was photographed leaving her London home early in the morning.

Although neither ever confirmed they were together, in January 2012 Harry tweeted that the relationship had mutually ended.^[16] In May 2015, Flack said of the relationship: "I’m not going to ever apologise for it because there was nothing at the time that was serious or bad and nobody was getting hurt.”^[17]

Taylor Swift

Harry dated American singer Taylor Swift from November 2012 to January 2013. After Taylor ended her relationship with Connor Kennedy in October 2012, she was photographed the following month wearing a paper plane necklace, similar to the one Harry wore at the time. The pair were then photographed holding hands together numerous times, both in New York where Taylor lives, and in Cheshire, Harry's hometown, throughout December 2012. They shared a New Year's Eve kiss in New York City's Times Square. They split five days later, while on vacation, for unknown reasons. Neither have revealed the reason behind their split, though Swift has since described the relationship as "fragile" and full of "anxiety and roadblocks".

Swift's fifth album 1989 features two songs confirmed to be about Harry: "Style" and "Out Of The Woods".Style was released as the third official single from 1989, and became one of the best selling songs of 2015. The title references Harry's surname and Swift holds a paper airplane necklace in the music video. Swift confirmed Out Of The Woods references a December 2012 snow mobile accident she and Harry were in where her "life flashed before [my] eyes". Harry was photographed with bandages on his chin in the immediate aftermath. The referential lyrics are "Remember when you hit the breaks too soon, 20 stitches in the hospital room, when you started crying, baby, I did too". Certain lyrics also reference December and paper airplanes. In October 2015, One Direction released "Perfect", a song co-written by Harry and Louis, featuring the lyric "If you're looking for someone to write your break-up songs about, baby, I'm perfect", which sparked worldwide media speculation of it being a reference to Swift, who is known to write songs detailing her failed relationships.

Kendall Jenner

While it is unconfirmed whether Harry and US reality tv star/model Kendall Jenner were ever an item, the pair have been seen out together numerous times since late 2013. In both January 2014 and December 2015, they vacationed together, along with Harry's parents and the Azoff family. Paparazzi pictures taken during their 2015 vacation appeared to show the two kissing. Harry told Piers Morgan during 1D Day in 2013, that they went out to dinner but was hesitant to say they dated. In January 2016, Kendall's sister Khloe Kardashian said she considered them a couple because she had seen them hanging out together so often, but was unsure whether they considered themselves an item. On January 30, 2016, The Sun reported Harry and Kendall had split and the two have not been seen together since January 25, 2016. In an August 2016 interview, Jenner stated she had not had a boyfriend for two years, seemingly confirming she never dated Styles. Harry attended Kendall's 21st birthday party in November, but was not seen or pictured with Jenner at all.

Controversies

2010

In 2015, Ed Sheeran revealed Harry had told him he purposefully leaked a nude photo of himself during his time on The X Factor. Ed told a reporter "Did you know Harry leaked that picture himself? He leaked his own picture. I think that’s amazing.” As Harry is underage in the photograph, it is illegal to download or distribute the image anywhere.

2011

As previously stated Harry's alleged 2011 relationship with Caroline Flack continues to cause considerable controversy because of the 15 year age gap between the two. Harry has never publicly spoken about the relationship while Flack continues to court publicity, publishing a book in 2015 where she talks about not regretting the relationship. Most fans believe it was a publicity stunt.

As of 2011, Harry has consistently been framed as a womanizer by the media. While most claims of his short relationships go unfounded and unconfirmed, he tends to be seen as a "lothario" figure by the general public. He has expressed discomfort with these assumptions^[18] and several of his bandmates have come to his defence stating he is not actually like that, particularly Zayn^[19]. In a 2013 interview with GQ, he was pushed to reveal how many sexual partners he had. Upon Harry revealing he had slept with two people, the interviewer stated they did not believe him. The harassment caused backlash from fans who did not appreciate reading Harry's discomfort.^[20] The One Direction fanbase often expresses discomfort with this image, taking to Twitter to publicly call out journalists who perpetuate the image or make jokes about it. In late 2015, Heat Magazine made a formal apology to Harry for running a story about his dating a model, stating the story was completely untrue.

Larry Stylinson (2011- present)

From 2011 onward, Harry and bandmate Louis have been subject to fevered speculation they were a couple, particularly when they announced they had made plans in 2010 to move in together once X Factor finished^[21]. They began renting a luxury apartment together in September 2011 just before their debut single was released. The pair told various interviewers in 2011 that they invented the combined name Larry Stylinson (Louis Tomlinson/Harry Styles) themselves and Harry once told a teen magazine "Until I find the perfect girl, I have Louis"^[22]. Their mothers often tweeted about how close the pair were, with Louis's mother once referring to Harry as Louis's husband^[23]. In October 2011, Louis tweeted "Always in my heart @HarryStyles. Yours sincerely, Louis".^[24] The tweet came shortly after Louis was confirmed to be dating Eleanor Calder and many believed it was a sign he and Harry had been forced to break up by management. Many boy bands in the past have had closeted gay members who were not allowed to reveal their sexuality for fear of alienating female fans^[25]. Louis's tweet is currently the second most retweeted of all time (with over 1 million retweets) and in February 2015 surpassed a tweet by US President Barack Obama, making worldwide headlines^[26]. In January 2016, the tweet reached 1.8 million retweets and on Valentines Day 2016, the tweet reached 2 million retweets. Neither Harry or Louis have ever spoken about the tweet or its meaning.

In 2011, Harry told an interviewer his "first real crush" was Louis and told a fan (while she recorded him on her phone) that he was dating Louis. It is unknown whether these statements were jokes or confirmations. Since then, Harry has never publicly addressed the status of his relationship to Louis.

In early 2012, rumors of Harry moving out of his house with Louis swirled and an interview was published where Louis stated fans speculating about their relationship had made them too uncomfortable to continue being friends^[27]. Many chose not to believe this as their friendship seemed largely unchanged despite their spending less time together in public. Over the next three years, several "denials" were issued by Louis. In late 2012, Louis tweeted "Larry is the biggest load of bullshit I've ever heard"^[28]. From early 2013 to mid 2014, Harry and Louis were not seen together once outside of work commitments, leading many to believe they had in fact stopped being friends. In July 2014, however, Harry attended Louis's mother's wedding and was introduced to their extended family by the bride herself, indirectly confirming Harry was still evidently close to Louis.

In a 2014 interview with music video director Ben Winston, One Direction were asked to address any rumors they were sick of hearing. They initially said fake death rumors and did not choose any others. Winston pressed the issue but neither Harry or Louis addressed the relationship rumors, despite the amount of tweets and print interviews implying the rumors had affected them. Harry stated "There's some I actually like".

From 2012 to 2014, several tattoos Harry and Louis have gotten have been subject to speculation. While all the band members have matching tattoos, some of Harry and Louis's are known to be popular tattoos for couples. The tattoos are: ship/compass, rope/anchor, oops/hi (considered their first words to each other), heart/arrow and rose/dagger. Neither Harry or Louis have ever explained what these particular tattoos mean. The timing of certain tattoos has added to the controversy surrounding them. 19 hours after Harry got his ship tattoo in 2012, Louis went to the same artist and got his compass tattoo, which points to "home"^[29]. A year after fans regularly speculated online that Louis would get a dagger tattoo to match Harry's forearm tattoo of a rose, Louis did in fact get the tattoo the exact same position on his forearm.^[30]

As of 2015, Harry and Louis's friendship appeared unaffected by ongoing rumors. In August, Harry attended Louis's sister Lottie's birthday party, along with Louis and Liam. During One Direction's November 2015 album promo, they often sat next to and shared jokes together. Louis stated Zayn's departure from the band brought the four remaining members much closer together. It is unknown if Harry and Louis made contact in 2016. Louis wished Harry a happy birthday on Twitter on February 1, 2017, their first online interaction in four years.

2013

In 2013, Harry accidentally liked a picture on Instagram of a man about to undress. The picture was designed to look like a video and the caption read "Double tap to see me strip". (An image tapped twice on Instagram becomes "liked".) The owner of the photo wrote "Hi @harrystyles :)" after noticing what had happened. It caused continued speculation about Harry's sexuality.

In July, Harry denied being in a relationship with BBC Radio 1 host Nick Grimshaw, after media speculated why they were spending so much time together. Upon being asked about it, Harry stated "‘Oh, really? I didn’t even know. We’re not dating, no. We’re just friends." The interviewer also asked if he was bisexual and Harry stated "Bisexual? Me? I don’t think so. ‘I’m pretty sure I’m not."^[31] Grimshaw also denied in 2015 that he and Harry ever dated.

In December 2013, Harry won a court order against paparazzi, prohibiting them from loitering within 50 metres of his house, placing him under surveillance or pursuing him in vehicles.^[32]

2014

In July, a pornographic image of a woman appeared in Harry's favorites on Twitter. The image was left there for over eight hours, leading some to believe management purposefully favorited the tweet themselves to get him into trouble with media and fans. When Harry realized the error, he deleted the tweet and favorited numerous pictures of puppies and kittens, before tweeting "Sooooo...the weather?".

During a 2014 concert, Harry danced with an inflatable hammer bearing the Israel flag and symbols, which many found offensive as Israel was conducting brutal attacks against Palestine at the time. Zayn spoke against these attacks on Twitter. On Instagram, Harry took down an image of himself wearing a Native American headdress after receiving accusations of racial appropriation, meaning trivializing sacred elements of culture and removing them from their proper context.

In November, an interviewer asked Harry and Liam what is important to them in a romantic partner. Liam said "Female, that's a good start". Harry responded "Not that important" and did not elaborate^[33]. Many fans and media outlets took this to be a possible coming out as gay or bisexual, though Harry has never spoken about it since (and previously denied being bisexual). His comment received worldwide global coverage for over a week and no denials or explanations were issued regarding the statement. Since then, Harry has shown support for the first openly gay US football player Michael Sam by wearing his jersey on stage, has flown rainbow flags on stage during concerts, worn rainbow bracelets and can be seen using a mug with a rainbow on it in the "Drag Me Down" music video.

2015

In July, Harry told a US concert audience "Don't go to Sea World", referencing the animal cruelty accusations often aimed at the animal park. Sea World staff responded with a series of inflammatory tweets, including one saying One Direction had lost their only good singer when Zayn left. Media noted Sea World's reputation further plummeted as a result of Harry's comments and in November, the park announced they would be phasing out their famous Orca show.

In October, One Direction released a song called "Perfect", co-written by Harry and Louis, which featured the lyrics "If you're looking for someone to write your break-up songs about, baby I'm perfect". Many took this to be a reference or diss to ex-girlfriend Taylor Swift, who is known for writing songs about former relationships, and wrote about Harry on her 1989 album. Harry was asked numerous times to explain the lyric but remained vague saying it was down to personal interpretation. He also implied in November that he did not write that particular lyric.