Ali Cronin - Harry Styles: The Biography, Offstage

H arry Styles didnt have a showbiz upbringing. He didnt have music lessons or dance lessons, and he went to a normal comprehensive school, yet he is now one of the most famous recording artists in the world. He has gone from fronting a band at school to The X Factor to huge success with One Direction (aka 1D), and now hes acing it as a solo artist and movie actor. His astronomical rise to stardom cant just be down to his good looks (although, lets face it, they are good), and that leads us to the question: Whats so special about Harry?

Of his success, Harry told Another Man magazine, If you can step outside of the craziness and appreciate it for the fact that its extraordinary, see it as this amazing thing for a second, its all right. If you just think thats how life is, thats when you lose touch. Its good to have people who can tell you youre an idiot.

Were not going to call Harry an idiot (how ridiculous!), but we are totally going to delve into the life of one of the sweetest guys in showbiz; the man whose motto is Work hard, play hard, be kind. What was his childhood like? What kind of teen was he? How did it feel to be on The X Factor? Has fame really not changed him at all? And what the heck is it that he loves so much about being naked?!

Lets find out, shall we?

I t was close to midnight on Monday, January 31, 1994. Twenty-six-year-old Anne Styles clutched her bump and panted in pain, while her husband, Des, thirty-five, parked the car as fast as he could at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch, Worcestershire, England. Their little girl, Gemma, who was three at the time, was completely unaware that she would soon have a new baby brother or sister.

Back at the hospital, things were not quite so calm. The midwife took one look at Anne and knew that this was not going to be a long labor. Anne and Des were rushed into a delivery room where, at six minutes past midnight on Tuesday, February 1, Anne gave birth to a healthy baby boy.

We only just made it in time! Des later said.

After some discussion, they settled on the name Harry Edward for their new baby boy.

A retired ambulance worker also named Harry Styles later claimed that Harry was named after him. He told WalesOnline that he had looked after Anne when she felt ill at a pop concert in Birmingham while she was heavily pregnant with Harry. Apparently, she saw his name badge and said, Youre quite nice. If its a boy Im going to call him Harry.

Whether thats true or not, its impossible to think of the Harry Styles we know and love as having any other name: Edward Styles just doesnt have the same ring to it (although we can sort of see him as an Eddie).

Harry was, unsurprisingly, a gorgeous baby. Early photos of him show an almost unbearably cute little boy with straight blond hair and big blue eyes (the dark curly hair and green eyes came later), and a huge, playful grin. He was still only a baby when the Styles family moved to Holmes Chapel, a village twenty-one miles south of Manchester.

Thats one of the places where I feel like I disappear the most, if thats what Im in need of.

Not much happens there, Harry later said during his X Factor audition. Its picturesque, but quite boring. Perfect, in other words, for a young family. Even now Harry goes back home if he needs to escape.

My parents still live where I grew up, so thats one of the places where I feel like I disappear the most, if thats what Im in need of, he told Another Man. I go back to Cheshire a lot and walk around the same fields, and its one of the things that isnt going to change, no matter what happens. Im lucky that I still have a base up there.

At the age of two, little Harry was enrolled at the local Happy Days Club & Nursery School, where he went while his parents were at work. (Anne worked in an office, and Des worked for financial companies.) As Harry later confirmed in One Directions book, Dare to Dream, They were happy days, to be fair.

By all accounts Harry was a good boy, always smiling, playing with his toys, painting or drawing. At home, while he liked the music that his dad would play Elvis Presley, Queen, and The Beatles, usually there was no sign at this early stage that he would follow a musical path himself. He was just a normal, smiley kid.

The only inkling that he might have what it took to go far was that he was always willing to try something new. If the caregivers who ran Happy Days suggested a new activity, he would happily join in and do his best. Theres also the fact that he was a total charmer from day one that probably helped. He would even share his pacifier with the family dog, a border collie mix called Max. Gross, yes... but oh so cute!

When Harry was four he left Happy Days and started in the reception class at Hermitage Primary School. He was a happy, boisterous child, and it was at primary school that his love of performing first began to come to light. On hot days he would entertain parents picking up their kids by standing up in his seat in the back of the car and performing for them through the open window. This led to a love of acting in school plays, and lead roles beckoned. Would you like to see a six-year-old Harry Styles wearing his big sisters tights and a headband with glued-on ears in one of his primary-school productions? Course you would! Search Harry Styles Barney the Mouse on YouTube and marvel at the cuteness.