Tweet This
Harry Styles could have done a lot of different things on his debut solo album and accompanying tour. He could have released a treacly, mainstream pop album that copied One Direction’s winning formula to a tee. He could have used the press tour as an opportunity to slag off his bandmates and boast about his newfound liberation. He could have delivered the same surly, 90-minute performance every night and returned to his tour bus without interacting with his fans at all.
Obviously, he did none of those things. Styles won over critics last year with his earnest, glam rock-inspired debut album, which topped the Billboard 200 and spawned the hit single “Sign of the Times," which reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 despite containing approximately zero ingredients of a conventional Top 40 hit. The ensuing tour proved a smashing success, as Styles graduated from intimate theaters to massive arenas over the course of 89 sold-out shows, with opening acts such as Leon Bridges and Kacey Musgraves in tow.
Styles wrapped his tour last weekend with two consecutive shows at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The 24-year-old heartthrob sold just under 1 million tickets on his maiden solo voyage , Variety reports. Tickets for the tour’s first leg vanished in 29 seconds, making it the “first arena tour to sell out through Ticketmaster’s new Verified Fan program,” which attempts to identify genuine fans over scalpers and sends them codes to access tickets long before presale. Unsurprisingly, Styles also set merchandise records in more than 50 venues across North and South America, Australia and Europe.
On tour, Styles also earned a reputation as a charming and dynamic performer who strove for inclusivity, often donning pride flags and encouraging fans to “be whoever it is you want to be in this room tonight.” It turns out that good-naturedness extends beyond the stage as well. The singer raised $1.2 million in donations across 62 charities worldwide, including The Hunger Project in Stockholm and The Children’s Cancer Society in Oslo, Norway, Variety reports. He also invited HeadCount to register hundreds of new voters at shows and spearheaded a major water conservation effort, recycling thousands of gallons of water and saving thousands of water bottles.
With a successful debut solo tour in the books, Styles can finally enjoy some much-needed downtime. But given his penchant for crowd-pleasing and the massive congregation of fans eagerly awaiting his every move, he probably won’t be gone for long.
