Has Harry Styles earned 'New King of Pop' title? His Grammy and Brit Awards suggest he has

Back in 2022, Harry Styles was labelled the 'New King of Pop' by Rolling Stone which received backlash from Michael Jackson's family who said Harry 'didn't earn it'. Well, after his outstanding achievements this year at the Grammys and the Brits, could he now be accepted as the 'King of Pop'?

At the Brit Awards 2023, Harry Styles walked away with best song – 'As It Was', which had spent 10 weeks at No 1; best album 'Harry’s House', best pop/R&B act and the best artist award. At the Grammys, he picked up Best Pop Vocal Album and the coveted Album of the Year award. Harry Styles has come a long way since his X-Factor days.

Just ten days previously, Harry Styles also celebrated his 29th birthday. It seems unbelievable when you think of all his achievements so far, but the British pop star and actor was only born on February 1, 1994!

Harry Styles continues to be an icon of music, fashion, and film. He broke records with his second studio album, 'Fine Line', at the end of 2019. The song 'Watermelon Sugar' earned him his first Grammy Award.

Photo: CBS, still from 2021 Grammy Awards

In addition, the 28-year-old pop star and actor appears in several movies and is considered one of the best-dressed male superstars. Let's have a look at his rise in showbiz over the past decade.

Harry auditioned for the X Factor in April 2010 and wowed the judges with the classic song, “Isn’t she lovely?”. In July of the same year his journey in the competition came to an end at the show’s boot camp but music mentor, Simon Cowell, allowed him and other solo acts to join together, creating the group that we all know as One Direction and entering as a group act in the show. They came third overall.

Photo: ITV

At the start of his fame, he raised suspicions and eyebrows with his generation gap relationship with Caroline Flack who was in her 30s. Harry was 17.

Interrupting our timeline and jumping forward to 2020, Harry Styles paid tribute to his ex-girlfriend Caroline at the Brit Awards in London on February 18. She had died at just age 40. Harry paid his respects to Caroline at the award ceremony by wearing a black ribbon on his left lapel as a sign of mourning.

Back to young Harry... After the show, One Direction went on the X Factor Live UK Tour with the other finalists from the program. They signed a music contract with Psyco and started recording their first studio album, entitled “Up All Night” in January 2011 which went on to be released in September

His love life continued to spark interest. In 2012 he had a short fling with ‘Inbetweeners’ star, Emily Atack. The relationship didn’t last and they both agreeably reported that they simply ‘went their own way’ after their ‘thing’.

Harry and Taylor. Haylor. Everyone knows Harry Styles and Taylor Swift were an item and constantly in the public eye. Their relationship began in late 2012 and then they broke up only a few months later. They both called the relationship ‘a learning experience’ and actually Taylor didn’t date for a long time after the break up. Both have written songs about each other, or so people believe... Or are these songs written about other people?

For those of you who have noticed, Harry tends to date the slightly older woman. He really raised some eyebrows when he dated former Pussycat Dolls lead singer, Nicole Scherzinger, in the months following his break up with Taylor. She was 35 at the time, compared to Harry who was not yet 20 years old.

What perhaps a lot of people don’t know, he had an on-off relationship with beauty Kendall Jenner over the period of a few years. Another fizzled-out relationship. He seems to have had a few of those.

Styles was becoming an icon of, well, style. At this point in his ‘style’ evolution, he liked to go for a bold print. Here he is wearing a bold heart print shirt at the premiere of One Direction's movie, "This Is Us," in August 2013.

Professionally speaking, Harry Styles swiftly became the nation’s favourite member of the band and One Direction went on to produce five albums and at the beginning of 2016 they went into a never ending hiatus.

Harry signed with Columbia Records in 2016 as a solo artist. In 2017 he released his first single called “Sign of the Times” which reached number one in the charts. In the same year, he released his first hit solo album, Harry Styles, which received huge critical acclaim.

He finally had a lasting relationship (!) and dated Camille Rowe for a full year from mid-2017. The couple did not appear much together in public.

Post break up he wrote the song ‘Cherry’ about their struggles to end the relationship and it actually includes one of her voicemail messages in her mother tongue, French. Roughly it is translated, "Hello! Are you asleep? Oh, I'm sorry… Well, no… Nope, it's not funny… Well then… We went to the beach and now we-”. A chilling, personal end to a track.

He is absolutely no stranger to the film camera either. You can watch the documentary he made in 2017 called Harry Styles: Behind the Album. It was a big year for Harry as he also made his first movie appearance in the Christopher Nolan film, ‘Dunkirk’.

Photo: Still from 'Dunkirk'

Turning more and more into the fashion icon we know, Harry wore purple silk trousers with embroidered dragons in May 2017 as he was leaving a gig in London. He certainly turned some heads.

In New York City, September 2017, Harry Styles performed at Radio City. What an iconic stage for a young and upcoming icon. He definitely stands out here in his red, metallic flower suit, matching the formal, classical setting. He accessorised with Gucci loafers and his guitar, attracting attention as a complete star in the making.

Harry Styles 'Live on Tour' went worldwide between September 2017 and July 2018. He was rapidly becoming a household name from singing, acting and even composing, having also composed the song for Love, Simon film.

2018 - his modelling career started at Gucci. He fits in well at Gucci who proclaim they are ‘outrageous and wearable’ and was rightly chosen to be an ambassador of their tailored campaign.

In 2019 he released the song, ‘Lights Up', the first single of his second album, ‘Fine Line’, which finally hit the shelves in December of the same year. The album produced 4 more successful hit singles and reached number 1 on the American Billboard. Harry was the second member of One Direction to have that claim, after his band-mate Zayn Malik.

(Photo: Styles with Stevie Nicks as she was induced into the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame in March, 2019)

Harry appeared in The Late Late Show in December 2019 and pretty much everyone who watched it was staring at the screen with their mouths wide open. Harry, attached to a zip wire, was swinging across the busy streets of LA whilst singing his songs. This aerial concert created a lot of hype and was a definite first for Mr Styles and the show.

(Image: CBS, still from The Late Late Show)

Styles like you’ve never seen him before. When he co-chaired the 2019 Met Gala, he donned a black jumpsuit with a see-through top and just the one pearl earring. An interesting little-known fact, he got his ear pierced especially for the occasion.

'Watermelon Sugar' came from his second album, released in 2020, and had a 1970s inspired video.
About the song, Harry said, “It’s kind of about that initial, I guess, euphoria of when you start seeing someone... or just like being around someone and you have that kind of excitement about them,” according to PopBuzz.

Apart from his award for 'Watermelon Sugar,' and his leather suit, Harry Styles also surprised the Grammy 2021 audience with long, colored boas and checkered jackets. It is clear he is pushing style boundaries and becoming, quite simply, a fashion icon.

Harry Styles appeared in Olivia Wilde’s new film and, as we all know, they got to know each other and started dating. They were seen together holding hands at a wedding and became one of the celebrity couples of the year. Wilde certainly fulfills Harry’s interest in women - she is beautiful, successful and ten years his senior.

Harry's 2022 album went down a treat with fans and critics alike. Despite some critics saying it 'lacked substance', many thought this album was the deeper, more soulful side of Harry that his fans had been waiting for.

Harry really stepped into Hollywood when he took on a role in the controversial film, 'Don't Worry Darling'. With rumours at the time flying around about problems on set, difficult relationships between actors and awkward red carpet appearances, Harry was thrust into the spotlight again.

Photo: Still from 'Don't Worry Darling'

Harry will be resuming his three year world tour in 2023. 'Love on Tour' has had sell-out dates, cancellations due to the pandemic and controversy over Harry's performance style (spitting water over the fans). But there is no doubt, 2023 will see the star rise higher and deliver some spectacular entertainment.