One year ago, One Direction officially went on hiatus, and while the boys promised that the break wasn’t forever, anticipation instantly formed about what each band member was going to do on their own. They kept pretty mum most of last year until Niall released “This Town” in September and Louis dropped “Just Hold On” a few months later.
Louis told the Today show in January that One Direction was “enjoying a bit of time to ourselves” and “exploring our own solo things.” Liam certainly enjoyed his time off considering he just had his first baby with Cheryl. But what has the beautiful godsend Harry Styles been doing since last March besides cutting his long, famous locks, you ask? Well, in light of the exciting news he shared this week, let’s honor him with an in-depth look at his solo career progress post-hiatus.
May 2016- Harry made his acting debut when he was cast as a British soldier in Christopher Nolan’s WWII drama, Dunkirk. Initially, we heard that Harry only had a minor supporting role, but his prominence in the trailer proves otherwise. Supposedly, he impressed the directors so much that they wrote him into more scenes. This begs the question: how big of a role does he actually have?! I’m not sure if I can handle Harry being a main character… my heart will literally explode.
July 2016- Columbia Records signed Harry for an $80 million solo record deal. The label signed him for three solo albums– an obvious victory for Harry fans, yet a huge loss for anyone with hopes of an eventual 1D reunion.
September 2016- AnOther Man magazine photographed Harry in his first solo photoshoot since the hiatus and it was also the first real taste of what he was going to be like as an artist on his own. We were blessed with three different magazine covers, interviews, and many, many delicious photographs of Harry that we so desperately needed after all that time. Cue major freak out.
March 2017- A lot has happened this month– I really have so many feelings. Harry shook the world Saturday, March 25th when he posted three blank squares on Instagram, just like he did before the AnOther Man cover story. This caused mass frenzy among Directioners, with each square getting over 700,000 likes. It’s pretty obvious that fans were pumped for what was to come.
Later that day, Harry appeared in a dramatic commercial that teased (what we hope is) an instrumental preview of his first solo song! The 30-second clip featured an intense close-up of his majestic green eyes that ended with a black screen with the words “April 7th.” Oh my god, could it be? Is the wait finally over? Yes, it appears so my friends. Our wish has finally come true. Check out the advertisement here.
Just when Directioners thought life couldn’t get any better, on March 28th it was announced that Harry was going to make his solo debut on Saturday Night Live! He’s set to accompany host Jimmy Fallon as the musical guest on April 15th. This is HUGE. Like colossally HUGE. The 15th cannot come soon enough.
So, that brings us to the present day. We’re a little over a week away from Harry’s solo launch and man, those words are simply music to my ears. I don’t know how I’m going to get through these next few days because the excitement is preoccupying my ability to function like a normal human being. Here’s hoping the man lives up to the expectation (no pressure), because the bar is set pretty high. Stay tuned!