Is Harry Styles the biggest male pop star in the world?

Harry Styles in about ten days, on February 1st, he will turn 32. At that point half of his life will have been linked to the recording industry, in fact he was only 16 years old when, a member of One Directioncame third in the final ranking of the British edition of X Factor in 2010. As he had prophesied Simon Cowellpatron and creator of the successful television talent show, to the five boys, “Your life is about to change”. And so it was. Radically. The debut album of One Direction of 2011, “Up all night”reached number one on the sales charts in 15 countries around the world, including the United States. The One Direction they turned into the new boy band that laid golden eggs.

On a punctual annual basis One Direction since 2011 they have released albums, to date the last of their five, “Made in the AM” (read the review here), was released in November 2015 without the contribution of Zayn Malik who had left in March of that year to pursue a solo career. 2016 is the year in which the One Direction they go on hiatus – they have not yet returned since then and unfortunately will never be able to return to the original lineup since Liam Payne And died tragically in 2024 at just 31 years old – and the other four members of the band also set out on their own to realize themselves as soloists.

But we were talking about Harry Styles… and we’re talking about it because last week the musician born in Redditch made it official that on March 6th it will be published, after a four-year wait, “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally”his fourth solo album. A record called to confirm the talent and artistic goodness of the man who for some is, at this moment, probably the greatest male pop star in the world.

A statement that is not at all far-fetched in light of what the English boy has demonstrated since his debut only with the eponym “Harry Styles” (read the review here) in 2017. An album that surprised not so much because it reached top positions in the charts all over the world – something that could also be expected given the global fame acquired with the One Direction -, but for the risk that the then 23-year-old Harry took by changing his musical direction, veering from the carefree pop from which he came from towards a more classic and backward-looking sound influenced by beat and rock. A gamble that rewarded him by obtaining the most classic of critical and public successes.

Having received the compliments for the good debut, for Harry came the difficult part of the job, that is, confirming yourself when the level of expectation towards you is set high and many are ready to turn up their noses in the event of a misstep. After two years, in 2019, Styles released his second album, “End of line” (read the review here). As in the previous chapter, the musical path is marked by folk, rock, Britpop. Harry succeeds in the feat of bringing adults and children, children and parents, to agree, taking the lesson of as an example David Bowie And Paul McCartney.

It comes out in 2022 “Harry’s house” (read the review here), and it is a global plebiscite. The ex One Direction he is now a star, he can wander and allow himself what he wants: pop, rock, soul, r’n’b, funk. His third solo effort (like the previous ones, after all) has melody as its guiding star which, combined with instinct and talent, guides his steps without stumbles. For the very few who hadn’t noticed yet, Harry Styles is a number one and wins the Grammy Awards for best album of the year.

The present of Harry Stylesfrom March 6, is called “Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally”. The album will be preceded by the release of the first single on Friday 23 January “Openings”. He once again takes charge of the production Kid Harpoon and rumors are circulating that Harry would once again be involved in a residency at Madison Square Garden in New York as well as at Wembley Stadium in London where – as reported by the Daily Star – he could surpass the performance of Coldplay who performed there 10 times in 2025, bringing the new record to 12.