Looking back on 2022, there’s one thing we can say for certain and that’s the dominance of two particular musical artists: Harry Styles and Beyoncé. While one broke the record for the most-ever Grammy wins, the other might surprise you by how few they’ve taken home. So how many Grammys does Harry Styles have now that he’s won Album of the Year in 2023?
The One Direction alum (Styles’ boy band never got a Grammy nod though they did win several awards at other ceremonies like the AMAs and Teen Choice Awards) launched his solo career with a self-titled album released in 2017 and Fine Line in 2019. But the momentum after 2022’s Harry’s House was exponential and landed him six nominations at the 2023 Grammy Awards—his first in the Big Four categories including Album, Record and Song of the Year—behind Beyoncé who has the most with nine. In an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, Styles reflected on going out on his own and how he’s evolved more self-confidence. “Putting out the first single from this album was far and away the most relaxed I’ve ever felt putting anything out,” he said. “I no longer feel like my overall happiness is dependent on whether a song goes here or goes here.”
How many Grammys does Harry Styles have?
Harry Styles won his third Grammy at the 2023 awards, taking home the Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year for Harry’s House, over Beyonce’s RENAISSANCE which admittedly came as a bit of a shock.
“I’ve been so inspired by every artist in this category with me. But it’s important for us to remember that there’s no such thing as ‘best’ in music. This doesn’t happen very often to people like me so this is very nice, thank you,” Styles said in his acceptance speech.
Courtesy of Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
“As It Was,” which was released on April 1, 2022, is the lead single from Harry‘s third studio album, Harry’s House, which debuted on March 20, 2022. The song, which is two minutes and 47 seconds long, was written by Harry and songwriters Thomas Hull and Tyler Johnson, who have also co-written songs like “Watermelon Sugar,” “Adore You,” “Golden” and “Falling” with the former One Direction member.
In an interview with Dazed in 2021, Styles—who has released as well as starred in movies like Dunkirk, Eternals, Don’t Worry Darling and The Policeman—talked about what it’s been like to balance both careers. “I like to challenge myself and do something different and movies are definitely where I feel most out of my comfort zone,” he said. “I’m coming from music where I don’t think anyone really knows how it works, but I am somewhat in my comfort zone! But in movies, when I show up, I’m the new guy. I haven’t been (an actor) for a long time and that’s really cool, I feel like I’ve learned so much and life is about learning.”
He continued: “[With acting], you’re trying to remove a lot of yourself and key into someone else,” he explains. “On the most basic level, it’s like being a kid and you’re playing pretend. I am not a very confrontational person, I think I’m pretty chill, so then when you have a character who is like that, it’s fun to explore.” Though acting and music are different, Harry also told the magazine about how both passions have helped the other. “I think music and acting really aid each other in a lot of ways. In my experience, a lot of the time when I’ve gone to do a film I’ve felt like, ‘Oh, I’m probably not gonna do any music for a while because I’ll be so focused on that’. And then I actually find that, by the time I get home at the end of the day, I just write so much,” he said. “Any time you are looking at the world through someone else’s lens and exploring different emotions, it feels like a benefit in so many ways.”
Styles won the Best Pop Solo Performance in 2021 for “Watermelon Sugar” over Justin Bieber’s “Yummy”, Doja Cat’s “Say So”, Billie Eilish’s “Everything I Wanted”, Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” and Taylor Swift’s “Cardigan”. He attended the 2021 ceremony in what is now an iconic Styles outfit—a yellow plaid blazer, brown corduroy flares and purple feather boa. He took a big exhale before beginning his very simple acceptance speech.
“To everyone who made this record with me, thank you so much. This was the first song we wrote after my first album came out during a day off in Nashville,” he said. “I feel very grateful to be here, all of these songs are f—king massive… I feel very honored to be here among all of you.”
Styles dropped “Watermelon Sugar” during an appearance on Saturday Night Live on November 16, 2019. It’s a fun, sensual pop song that harkens back to warmer days. The lyrics include the lines: “I want more berries and that summer feelin’ / It’s so wonderful and warm / Breathe me in, breathe me out / I don’t know if I could ever go without / I’m just thinking out loud / I don’t know if I could ever go without / Watermelon sugar high.” In the chorus, Harry repeats the words “watermelon sugar high” over and over, leading listeners to wonder the obvious question: WTF is watermelon sugar?
Some quick Googling by dedicated Harry Styles stans uncovered the literary source of this phrase, plus a possible connection to his ex-Camille Rowe. Rowe once said in an interview with Elle UK that one of her favorite books was In Watermelon Sugar by Richard Brautigan. Rowe and Styles broke up in July 2018, and Harry has already admitted that his new music would be open about his break-up.
During an appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert series in February 2020, Styles said the catchy tune is “probably the longest it’s ever taken me to finish a song. We liked it when we wrote it then I really hated it for a long time, then it came back and kept coming back into the mix,” he explained that “it’s about that initial euphoria of when you start seeing someone or start sleeping with someone and you have that excitement about being around someone.”
But fans would later learn of the NSFW meaning of the song. During a show in Nashville on his Love On Tour in 2021, Styles revealed his true intentions behind the song to the crowd. “This song is about—it doesn’t really matter what it’s about. It’s about the sweetness of life,” he said. “It’s also about the female orgasm but totally different. It’s not really relevant. So that settles that.”
Image: Columbia Records.
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