The Illustrated Biography. Harry Styles is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series The X Factor. Following his elimination early on, he was brought back to join the boy band One Direction, which went on to become one of the best- selling boy bands of all time.Styles released his self-titled debut solo album through Columbia Records in 2017. It debuted at number one in the UK and the US, and became one of the worlds top-ten best-selling albums of the year. Its lead single, Sign of the Times, topped the UK Singles Chart. Styles second album, Fine Line