The baby of One Direction is a baby no more. As Harry Styles finally hits 21, tabloid! rounds up 21 things you might not know about the pop star.
1. He’s the youngest member of One Direction. At 21 years old, he clocks in as the baby of the band, with Louis Tomlinson holding the title of eldest member at 23. None of the band’s members were born before 1991.
2. If you ever wondered who in the world came up with the name One Direction that would be Mr Styles himself. The boys were texting about what to call themselves when Styles suggested that “One Direction” would sound good when Peter Dickson, the man behind the booming X Factor voice, announced them on the show.
3. He’s not afraid to open up. In the latest 1D book, Who We Are, Harry wrote: “I suffered some pretty serious confidence issues when I first appeared on stage. I’m naturally a fairly confident person in most situations, but not all. At that point, any natural confidence I had was being taken over by nerves because back then I had no idea how to channel and control my anxiety.”
4. He used to be a baker. In the band’s documentary This Is Us, we see Styles going back to his old bakery in Holmes Chapel to reconnect with the staff. He used to relish weekend jobs because they meant more spending money, and said he would steal baked goods for himself if they ever happened to crumble beyond the point that he could sell them.
5. He leaves a good first impression. Most celebrities who have met the star have spoken about his natural charm. Model and TV presenter Alexa Chung said he’s got a “magnetic quality” about him. “If he looks at you, it’s like staring into the face of a lighthouse. I don’t know what it is about that boy, he’s just incredibly charming,” she said.
6. He’s a family boy. Styles has the letters A and G tattooed on him for his mum and sister, Anne and Gemma. He says his mum taught him to be nice, and that his reputation as a womaniser is often off the mark. “I’m not half as busy as they make me out to be… I grew up with just my mum and sister, so I respect women a lot.”
7. He cries like the rest of us. In the band’s 2011 documentary, A Year in the Making, Styles teared up while talking about running out of breath during One Direction’s first televised performance of What Makes You Beautiful, which prompted nasty Twitter comments. “I’ve always wanted to be one of those people who didn’t care that much about what people thought about them, but I just don’t think I am,” he said.
8. He’s had more than 50 tattoos done, and even lets his friends tattoo him. Pal Ed Sheeran permanently added a padlock to Styles’ collection, done on his wrist. “There are some that my friends have done and some that are just awful,” Styles said of his tattoo regrets.
9. He’s been the subject of one or two Taylor Swift songs after the two shared a brief romance in 2012. Swift wrote Out of the Woods for Styles. In the song, she described an aeroplane necklace the two shared, and recalled a skiing accident they had been in that had ended with Styles in tears and with stitches in his chin.
10. His parents divorced when he was seven. “That was quite a weird time. I remember crying about it when my parents told me they were splitting up, but after that I was alright... I guess I didn’t really get what was going on properly, I was just sad that my parents wouldn’t be together any more,” he wrote in the band’s book, Dare to Dream.
11. He owns property in Los Angeles worth $4million [Dh14.7 million]. His home is said to be nearly 3,000 square feet with five bedrooms and 4.5 bathrooms. It has a swimming pool of course, because what would an LA bachelor pad be without one of those?
12. He has expensive taste in art. The star reportedly spent Dh111,057 on a series of Hayden Kays prints, one of which reads: “I will love you until the cold runs hot.”
13. Before One Direction, Styles used to be in another band: White Eskimo. If you delve into the dark depths of YouTube, you’ll be able to watch him fronting the indie band of youngsters and belting out Bryan Adam’s Summer of 69.
14. He was in a relationship with Xtra Factor host Caroline Flack when he was 17. She is nearly 15 years his senior. When the pair split, Styles took Twitter to say: “Please know I didn’t ‘dump’ Caroline. This was a mutual decision. She is one of the kindest, sweetest people I know. Please respect that.”
15. He hates the word ‘famous’. In an interview, he said: “When people label people as famous, they take away a lot of substance they have as a person… You don’t remember someone as he was funny or he was really nice and giving. It’s like: they were famous.”
16. During the first round of X Factor, only two out of three judges were impressed with Styles’ rendition of Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely. Louis Walsh had his doubts and was only convinced of Styles’ talents later on in the show.
17. He’s written several duets with non-1D musicians. Pop stars Meghan Trainor and Adriana Grande, as well as indie band Kodaline, have all confirmed collaborating with Styles. The songs usually revolve around love and heartbreak.
18. His credit card was declined when he tried to buy his own album. Taking to Twitter after the release of 1D’s second album Take Me Home, he wrote: “Soooo... I went to download our album this morning. And my card got declined. Hahaha!”
19. He’s a fan of rock ‘n roll. Styles has said he’s a fan of Freddie Mercury, the Beatles, Elvis Presley, Fleetwood Mac and the Rolling Stones among others. He also has a Pink Floyd tattoo.
20. He didn’t always want to be a pop star. Talking about what he would do had he not become a singer, he said: “I’d be studying I guess. I always wanted to be a physiotherapist before I was in the band.”
21. He’s grateful for his job as a world famous pop star. In A Year in the Making, Styles said: “You can’t wish for things like this. You can’t sit and imagine that you actually get to do this job. If I had to call it a job, then this is my job, and I love my job.”
