In a new interview, Harry Styles has opened up about his growth as a musician from his One Direction days to the upcoming release of his newest album Harry’s House on May 20.
The British artist notably shared that fellow chart-topper Billie Eilish helped him put growing up into perspective in a way he couldn’t do on his own.
“I definitely had a really big moment, I think, when Billie Eilish kind of first blew up. I think being in [One Direction], I’d always felt like… it was fun and exciting because we were young,” Styles explained. “And I had a moment, seeing her do this at such a young age, where I felt like, ‘I’m not that young anymore.’”
Once he was able to let go of the high expectations he had of himself to stay “relevant,” Styles was instead able to come into his own and become a more authentic musician.
“For a while, it was like, ‘How do you play that game, of like, remaining exciting?’ And I just had a moment where I felt like, ‘OK, we’re not the same thing,’” he shared. “And in the same vein of, like, ‘You’re not always going to be the kind of young thing,’ I was like, ‘OK, I would really like to think about who I would like to be as a musician.’”
“It felt like [Eilish] came in in a way that was like, ‘You’re not… Like, don’t worry about being this thing, ever,'” Styles continued. “Because, you know, she’s a lot younger than me, and there’s no point in me going, like, ‘OK, how do I get back in? How do I like, get back to like… She just totally broke the spell for me, in a way that I’m very grateful for.”
—
Photo credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com