Early life

Styles was born in Redditch, Worcestershire. He is the son of Anne Cox (née Selley) and Desmond "Des" Styles. Many of his ancestors were farm labourers in Norfolk. Styles was raised in Holmes Chapel, Cheshire, after his parents moved there along with his older sister, Gemma, when he was a child. He attended Holmes Chapel Comprehensive School. Styles's parents divorced when he was seven and his mother later remarried. As a sixteen-year-old he worked part-time at the W. Mandeville Bakery in Holmes Chapel.

As a child, Styles loved singing, noting Freddie Mercury, Elvis Presley and The Beatles as his influences. While at Holmes Chapel Comprehensive, Styles was the lead singer for the band White Eskimo, which won a local Battle of the Bands competition.

Music career

The X Factor

On 11 April 2010, Styles auditioned as a solo candidate for the seventh series of the British televised singing competition The X Factor. He failed to progress to the "Boys" category at "judges' houses." Four others in his age group did as well, but after a suggestion by Nicole Scherzinger, a guest judge, they were put together to form a five-piece boy band at Wembley Arena, in London, England, in July 2010, during the "bootcamp" stage of the competition, thus qualifying for the "Groups" category. Subsequently, the group got together for two weeks to get to know one another and to practise. Styles came up with the name One Direction. For their qualifying song at "judges' houses", and their first song as a group, One Direction sang an acoustic version of "Torn". Simon Cowell later commented that the performance convinced him that the group "were confident, fun, like a gang of friends, and kind of fearless as well." Within the first four weeks of the live shows, they were Cowell's last act in the competition. The group quickly gained popularity in the UK.

One Direction finished in third place and immediately after the final, their song "Forever Young", which would have been released if they had won The X Factor, was leaked onto the internet. Shortly afterwards it was confirmed that One Direction had been signed by Cowell to a reported £2 million Syco Records record contract. Recording for their debut album began in January 2011, as they flew to Los Angeles to work with RedOne, a record producer. A book licensed by One Direction, One Direction: Forever Young (Our Official X Factor Story), was published by HarperCollins in February 2011, subsequently topping The Sunday Times Best Seller list. The same month, the boy band and other contestants from the series participated in the X Factor Live Tour. During the tour the group performed for 500,000 people throughout the UK. After the tour concluded in April 2011, the group continued working on their debut album. Recording took place in Stockholm, London and Los Angeles, as One Direction worked with producers Carl Falk, Savan Kotecha, Steve Mac, and Rami Yacoub, among others. Styles came up with band name One Direction, which he thought would sound good when The X Factor announcer Peter Dickson read their name out on the live shows.

One Direction

Main article: One Direction

Following The X Factor, One Direction were signed to Simon Cowell's Syco Entertainment in 2010. They released their first studio album, Up All Night, in 2011, followed by their second, Take Me Home, in 2012. One Direction: This Is Us, a documentary about the band directed by Morgan Spurlock, was released in August 2013. The film grossed more than $30 million worldwide its first weekend in theaters. The band's third studio album, Midnight Memories, was released on 25 November 2013. The band released their fourth studio album, Four, in 2014, and their fifth, Made in the A.M., in November 2015.

Acting

Styles will make his acting debut in Christopher Nolan's action-thriller Dunkirk (2017) which is based on the British military evacuation in World War II. He will star alongside Tom Hardy, Mark Rylance, Cillian Murphy and Kenneth Branagh.

Personal life

Styles was in a relationship with The Xtra Factor presenter Caroline Flack from November 2011 to January 2012, which caused controversy and criticism over their 14-year age gap. Styles also dated singer Taylor Swift from October 2012 to January 2013.

Politically, Styles supports the Labour Party.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	The X Factor	Himself	Contestant; Series 7
2012	iCarly	Himself	Guest role; (Season 6, Episode 2)
	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Musical guest; (Season 37, Episode 18)
2013	One Direction: This Is Us	Himself
	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Musical guest; (Season 39, Episode 8)
2014	Where We Are - The Concert Film	Himself
	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Musical guest; (Season 40, Episode 10)
	One Direction: The TV Special	Himself
2017	Dunkirk		Styles' acting debut

Discography

Main articles: One Direction discography and List of songs recorded by One Direction

Songwriting credits

Year	Title	Artist	Album	Notes
2011	"Taken"	One Direction	Up All Night	Co-writer
	"Everything About You"
	"Same Mistakes"
2012	"Back for You"		Take Me Home
	"They Don't Know About Us"
	"Summer Love"
	"Still the One"
	"Irresistible"
2013	"Story of My Life"		Midnight Memories
	"Happily"
	"Right Now"
	"Something Great"
2014	"Just a Little Bit of Your Heart"	Ariana Grande	My Everything
	"Not Our Fault"	Gavin DeGraw	Finest Hour: The Best of Gavin DeGraw
	"Where Do Broken Hearts Go"	One Direction	Four
	"Fool's Gold"
	"Night Changes"
	"Stockholm Syndrome"
	"Change Your Ticket"
2015	"Perfect"		Made in the A.M.
	"If I Could Fly"
	"Olivia"
	"Walking in the Wind"
	"A.M."

Awards and nominations

See also: List of awards and nominations received by One Direction

Year	Award	Category	Result
2012	JIM Awards	Hottie of the Year	Nominated
2013	NME Awards	Villain of the Year	Won
	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Look	Won
	MTV Millennial Awards	Celebridad Sin Filtro En Instagram	Won
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Aussies' Fave Hottie	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Other: Male Hottie	Won
		Choice Other: Smile	Won
	British Fashion Awards	British Style Award	Won
2014	JIM Awards	Best Dressed Male	Won
	NME Awards	Villain of the Year	Won
	Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards	Aussies' Fave Hottie	Won
	iHeartRadio Music Awards	Instagram Award	Nominated
	MTV Italian Music Awards	Best Look	Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Other: Smile	Won
	MTV Millennial Awards	Global Instagram Star	Nominated
2015	NME Awards	Villain of the Year	Nominated
	Idler Bad Grammar Awards	Good Grammar Award	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]