Dramatic pictures show Harry Styles dangling in mid-air during new music video shoot… as we reveal secrets of debut single
IT’S been 479 days since Britain’s most successful ever boy band One Direction took their final bow.
But now the group’s breakout star Harry Styles is preparing for the biggest pop launch of the decade with the release of hugely anticipated debut single Sign of the Times.
And these incredible pictures show the 23-year-old intends to make his entrance in the most dramatic of fashions.
Floppy haired heartthrob Harry is winched from a helicopter above remote farmland shoreline in a secret location in Scotland earlier this week.
In fact, everything has been secret about this project…until now.
I can reveal the meticulously planned debut of the single at 8am on Friday will kick off an Adele-style campaign to establish Harry as the world’s biggest male star.
The superfan of David Bowie, Mick Jagger and Paul McCartney wants to be taken seriously as a songwriter and musician – and will distance himself from the teen pop direction of his former band.
A source close to the star tells me: “Harry isn’t a typical popstar. This is an art rock project – and he wants to let the music do the talking.”
Harry has spent months secretly ensuring that the music has a timeless quality reminiscent of Bowie and Prince at their peaks in the 70s and 80s.
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He has rejected the current move towards dance music and his first release will, in fact, run to five minutes long.
The song is so shrouded in secrecy that it is on just two iPods, which have no internet connection to stop hackers leaking the tune.
Many who have listened to the song have been asked to sign legally binding non-disclosure agreements.
Quietly determined Harry has been very personally involved in every aspect of the music, which has been produced by Jeff Bhasker who was behind the international smash hit Uptown Funk.
My source adds: “Harry has written the songs and the meanings are very personal to him, based on his life.
“He has also been playing the guitar and the piano as well. He’s a very modest guy, but it was important to him that this music represented him totally.”
Access to Harry is going to be severely limited during the international campaign.
The headline-grabbing star is desperate to avoid discussion of his personal life, especially romances with celebs such as Taylor Swift, Kendall Jenner and Caroline Flack.
And he also wants to avoid any discussion about his relationship with his 1D band members, who he has seen just a handful of times in the year-and-a-half since the split.
Harry has agreed to appear on BBC1 favourite Graham Norton – but he will only perform and not join the other A-listers on the sofa of the hit chat show.
He’ll also appear on US TV institution Saturday Night Live and give one in-depth interview to his BFF Nick Grimshaw on Radio 1 to coincide with the single release.
The source explains: “Harry doesn’t want to talk about his personal life or be asked constantly about One Direction. It’s not his style.
“He’s spent his entire life having his every move scrutinised. He doesn’t feel the need to do interviews or the promo circuit.
Harry’s idols are people like Bowie and Jagger. He’s closely studied their careers
“There will be a couple of very big appearances to keep TV and radio on board, but it will be very limited and he’s learnt how to say very little.
“Harry’s idols are people like Bowie and Jagger. He’s closely studied their careers and that’s the direction he is heading in.
“He loves the sense of mystery they maintained around them.”
Harry’s small team of advisers is led by his manager and close friend Jeff Azoff, the son of music giant and Eagles manager Irving.
Also intimately involved are Sony Music Entertainment chief executive Rob Stringer and Sony Music UK chairman Jason Iley – a sign in the importance of Harry’s success to the future of the company.
He is being advised on PR by Dawbell, the company that also represents Harry’s close friends and personal mentors James Corden and Gary Barlow.
Stringer has said of the project: “We obviously want everything to be beautifully done, because we think he’s here to stay. Harry has stepped up with the vision of someone who’s authentic.”
Harry has stepped up with the vision of someone who’s authentic
Harry’s release is somewhat awkwardly timed as it means he will be directly competing with all four of his bandmates who are all releasing new singles over the next two months.
Zayn Malik, who launched his solo career after quitting the band in 2015, has got in first.
But his new single Still Got Time – featuring Canadian rapper Party Next Door – struggled in the charts last week, limping in at No24.
The first to follow Harry is likely to be Niall Horan, who will release the follow up to his debut single This Town some time next month.
The top ten hit received positive reviews and was popular in the US because it followed the formula of 1D’s popular guitar ballads.
In June, Louis Tomlinson will follow up his massive first single, dance track Just Hold On, which was a No2 hit.
He bravely went ahead with the launch of his solo career during the final of The X Factor in December, fulfilling the dying wish of his mum Johannah Deakin who succumbed to cancer days earlier.
Also in June, Liam Payne, the last of the five members to go solo, will release his first single, which is expected to take a more urban direction.
There is excitement around Liam’s launch so soon after he became a dad, with girlfriend Cheryl giving birth last month.
He has signed David Beckham’s long-time PR Simon Olivera to manage him and has already started the hype campaign with a topless shoot for Rollercoaster magazine, where he pleased 1D’s large female fanbase by posing topless.
But right now, all four rival 1D members are going to have put up with being in the shadow of Harry for a while yet.
New material from Harry and his bandmates
Harry