Harry Edward Styles is an English singer. Known for his influence in popular culture, showmanship, artistry, and philanthropy, he is regarded as one of the most influential men in music and fashion and a subject of widespread public interest with a vast fanbase. Styles is considered to be among the most successful solo artists who have emerged from a band.
Styles' musical career began in 2010 as part of One Direction, a boy band formed on the British music competition series The X Factor after each member of the band had been eliminated from the solo contest. They became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Styles released his self-titled debut solo album through Erskine and Columbia Records in 2017. It debuted at number one in the UK and the US and was one of the world's top-ten best-selling albums of the year, while its lead single, "Sign of the Times", topped the UK Singles Chart.
His second album, Fine Line, debuted atop the US Billboard 200 with the biggest ever first-week sales by an English male artist, with Rolling Stone including it in their 2020 revision of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.