We read it so you don’t have to.
Rolling Stone magazine has just released its cover interview with Harry Styles and there’s plenty to unpack.
The magazine had unprecedented access to the star last year, following him in the UK and to LA and Jamaica, where much of his debut album was recorded.
Here’s what we learned from the piece.
- His bandmates call him ‘H’.
Not unlike ‘H’ from Steps, Harry goes by a single letter with the guys who helped him write and record the album.
- He’s just a regular guy.
“I like to separate my personal life and work… When I go home, I feel like the same person I was at school. You can’t expect to keep that if you show everything. There’s the work and the personal stuff, and going between the two is my favorite shit.”
- Sign of the Times began as a seven-minute voice note on his phone.
And his mum cried the first time she heard it.
- He defends the fans who put him where he is.
“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? … 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.” Ah, bless.
- He sounds like your granny’s favourite crooner, apparently.
“His voice sounds warm, burnished and intimate, not unlike early Rod Stewart.” There you go.
- His go-to tipple might surprise you.
“He’s not a heavy drinker, he says, maybe some tequila on ice or wine with friends after a show.” We’ll have a Sauvignon if you’re buying, Hazza!
- He tried to dodge discussing Taylor Swift.
When interviewer brings up T-Swizzle, he responds: “’I gotta pee first. This might be a long one,’ he says. He rises to head to the bathroom, then adds, ‘Actually, you can say, ‘He went for a pee and never came back.’ ”
- But does eventually say this about her songs ‘Style’ and ‘Out of the Woods’.
“I don’t know if they’re about me or not… but the issue is, she’s so good, they’re bloody everywhere.”
- Much of his album is actually about another significant relationship he’s had in recent years, though he won’t say who with.
“She’s a huge part of the album. Sometimes you want to tip the hat, and sometimes you just want to give them the whole cap … and hope they know it’s just for them.”
- He loves a good rom-com.
Anything by Nicholas Sparks (The Notebook, The Last Song, Dear John), who he calls ‘Nicky Spee’, is a favourite.
