Why Harry Styles is the greatest artist of the decade

Insider is looking back on the last decade of musical greats with aseries of opinion essays. Next up: Harry Styles. 

Harry Styles could have gotten lost as an individual in his mega-successful band, One Direction. 

Styles was just 16 years old when he joined One Direction in 2010 after he and four other young men auditioned as solo acts on "The X Factor." Simon Cowell threw them together, and the result was something critics said rivaled The Beatles with their legions of young fans. 

The music industry has a talent for taking young artists like these and spitting them back out as a commodity. Styles could have easily fallen into that trap.

But even as a teen, Styles showed glimmers of the artist he would grow into a decade later: someone who wasn't afraid of self expression, appeared to reject traditional confines of masculinity, and learned to authentically connect with his fan base.

His authenticity, along with his talent, has caused him to become one of the defining artists of the decade.

From the word "go," One Direction became a massive success after coming in third on "The X Factor."

With support from devoted fans around the world — and the catchy song "What Makes You Beautiful" paving the way — One Direction's "Up All Night" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, making them the first UK group to have their first album debut at the top spot.

The chart-topping only continued after the first album's record-breaking, with their subsequent albums, "Take Me Home," "Midnight Memories," and "Four," also accomplishing the Billboard feat of debuting at No. 1. Their final album, "Made in the A.M.," debuted at No. 2. 

It wasn't just album sales. 1D fans came out in droves to see their music performed live. All four of One Direction's headlining tours grossed more than $500 million total, and the group also released live DVD recordings from the Up All Night and Where We Are tours, along with a theatrical release, "This Is Us," which showed a behind-the-scenes look at the band as they toured in 2012. 

And there was merchandise, of course: One Direction dolls, lunch boxes, and life-size cardboard cutouts. Some critics compared the group's passionate fan base with that of The Beatles. Indeed, some people became so overcome with emotion when seeing the band perform that they cried — myself included. 

Their enormous success also catapulted Styles into superstardom, and he started to showcase his talent as a songwriter within the confines of the boy group, too. 

Styles became known for his eccentric style, often pushing gender boundaries with his sartorial choices, but behind the scenes, it was his talent for songwriting that further set him apart from his bandmates.

"Something Great" off 2013's "Midnight Memories" exemplified Styles' earnestness with lyrics like, "The script was written and I could not change a thing / I want to rip it all to shreds and start again / One day I'll come into your world and get it right / I'll say we're better off together here tonight." The song was never a hit single, but hardcore fans know it well as showcasing Styles' ability to write heartbroken and emotionally vulnerable lines.

Another achingly honest song from Styles came on the 2015 One Direction album "Made in the A.M." and was titled "If I Could Fly." Styles sings about giving everything up for his love in the song, accompanied by a sweet and simple piano melody.

In 2014, "Just A Little Bit of Your Heart" came out, but he didn't perform the song as a member of One Direction. Instead, he gave it to Ariana Grande who included it on her album "My Everything." The heart-wrenching lyrics "I can't even think straight but I can tell / You were just with her / And I'll still be a fool, I'm a fool for you" wouldn't escape Styles' lips publicly until his 2018 solo world tour.

But his catalog consists of more than melancholic melodies. Styles' upbeat "Olivia" was one of the highlights from "Made in the A.M.," with tongue-tied lyrics and a full band backing One Direction up, a B-side track worthy of any windows-rolled-down jam session.

In his solo career, Styles became even more adventurous with his sound, with head-banging tracks such as "Kiwi" and "Carolina," while maintaining his soft, sensitive, and loving nature in "Sweet Creature" and "Two Ghosts." 

Then just this year came "Lights Up," the lead single from Styles' upcoming album, "Fine Line." It's a stunning song that begs the question, "Do you know who you are?" 

It was paired with a music video, released on National Coming Out Day, that includes various shots of Styles being touched by people of all genders. Fans immediately heralded it as "the new bisexual anthem of the century." (Insider has even named the visual as the best music video of 2019.) 

LGBTQ fan reactions were a testament to the power of his lyrics and visuals, and Styles seems to have embraced the community right back.

In August 2019, Styles said in an interview with Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield that he wants "to make people feel comfortable being whatever they want to be." Sheffield points out that Styles has backed LGBTQ artists and people in many ways, from supporting queer artist King Princess (who will be a part of his Love On Tour 2020) to wearing a Michael Sam football jersey, the first openly gay player drafted by an NFL team, back in 2014 as a member of One Direction.

Even before going solo, Styles' expression of his sexuality was refreshingly honest. When asked about what he looks for in a partner in a 2014 interview, he said being female is "not that important," shutting down the assumed notion that he's straight. 

Now in 2019, many fans view Styles as an LGBTQ icon, and the singer appears to welcome it and still refuses to label his sexuality.

Styles has made his concert venues a sea of positivity and warmth.

At any one of his tour stops, Styles can be seenholding up various LGBTQ and Black Lives Matter flags, signaling to his diverse group of fans that he loves and supports them. As a Jewish fan, it meant the world when Styles tweeted about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur amid a massive rise of antisemitism.

On a 2017 tour in Stockholm, Styles told the crowd, "If you are black, if you are white, if you are gay, if you are straight, if you are transgender — whoever you are, whoever you want to be, I support you. I love every single one of you."

He also puts his money where his mouth is. On his 2018 world tour, Styles donated a portion of merchandise proceeds to charity, generously giving $1.2 million that he could have easily pocketed for his own profit. Hesupported the March for Our Lives movement, a plea for gun control organized by Parkland high school students who survived the tragic attack on Marjory Stoneman Douglas in 2018. 

Because of his activism and inclusion, be it overt or implicit, countless stories have circulated abouthow Styles has helped people feel safe in their own skin, from expressing their sexuality to tattooing themselves to dressing however they want to. 

And if you've gotten to this point and are thinking, "So what? The only people who like him are teenage girls," you've missed the point. Throughout this decade, Styles — whether in One Direction or beyond — has given young people and especially young women an outlet to feel authentically themselves, and feel supported by someone who doesn't patronize them.

"Who's to say that young girls who like pop music — short for popular, right? — have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That's not up to you to say. Music is something that's always changing," Styles said of his predominantly female fanbase in the 2019 interview with Sheffield and Rolling Stone.

"Young girls like the Beatles," Styles continued. "You gonna tell me they're not serious? How can you say young girls don't get it? They're our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, presidents, they kind of keep the world going. Teenage-girl fans — they don't lie. If they like you, they're there. They don't act 'too cool.' They like you, and they tell you. Which is sick."

Styles' ability to be vulnerable through his music, remain authentically kind, and make his fans feel comfortable with who they are — that's what really makes an artist beautiful.

Elana Rubin is a contributing writer for Insider. She's also a screenwriter with words in Teen Vogue, Cosmopolitan, Elite Daily, Wonderland, and more. She lives in Los Angeles, but is an East Coast girl at heart. Say hi on Twitter or Instagram .

Source: Insider.com

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