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Harry Styles Breaks Records In Just 19 Minutes With ‘Sign Of The Times’: Is He The 1D Member To Beat?

By Jansen Clark
Published on: 05:20 PST, Apr 7, 2017

Harry Styles has staged his much-awaited comeback with the release of his internet-breaking first single, “Sign of the Times.” As one would have thought, the first few minutes into the song’s launch already allowed the One Direction member to hit a milestone.

Styles only needed 19 minutes to hit the top spot on iTunes in the United States. “Sign of the Times” now stands as the fastest track to hit No. 1, overtaking Adele with her record of 50 minutes.

Interestingly, Adele was actually a huge help in his endeavor to take the music world by storm. During his interview on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show with Nick Grimshaw, Harry Styles revealed that Adele sent him a special gift for his 21st birthday.

“She gave me one of her albums, 21, and said, ‘I did some pretty cool stuff when I was 21… Good luck.'”

The One Direction member went on to reveal that he actually turned to Adele for advice with his solo career, saying that the Grammy Award-winning “Hello” singer “leads by example.”

Within the 1,440 seconds that took Harry Styles to break Adele’s record, he also easily earned the right to be hailed as today’s Queen and the next David Bowie with “Sign of the Times” being deemed as an instant pop-rock classic. The opener of the track is as follows.

“Just stop your crying, it’s a sign of the times

Welcome to the final show

Hope you’re wearing your best clothes

You can’t bribe the door on your way to the sky

You look pretty good down here

But you ain’t really good”

The Guardian, which described the song as an indie-pop ballad, says that “Sign of the Times” will definitely give David Bowie fans the Hunky Dory feel, the fourth album released by the music legend back in 1971.

Harry Styles worked with songwriters Tyler Johnson, Alex Salibian, Ryan Nasci, Mitch Rowland, and Jeff Bhasker for “Sign of the Times.” Billboard says that some of the inspiration of the One Direction member in putting it together include Bowie, Pink Floyd, and Prince.

Styles’ fellow artists have started singing praises for the 1D star. Zedd, Shawn Mendes, and Olly Murs are crazy for the singer upon giving “Sign of the Times” a listen while Meghan Trainor is just happy for Harry Styles now that “the world can finally hear what’s in your brain.”

His One Direction brothers Niall Horan and Liam Payne also sent some love. Louis Tomlinson remains tight-lipped as well as their former bandmate, Zayn Malik, who also enjoyed a crazy welcome in the music industry as a solo artist last year.

Fans, on the other hand, have released all sorts of reaction videos on YouTube, where they show how mind-blown and emotional they were upon hearing the voice of Harry Styles once again, in an amazing song like “Sign of the Times” no less.

The solo debut of Harry Styles was always expected to be massive. His teasers on Instagram alone had fans going wild on what he has in store. While they will agree that the One Direction boys gel perfectly as a band, it is clear that they have different taste in music, which shows in their solo work.

Styles has his sights on indie and pop rock. Malik has taken the R&B route with his record-breaker of an album, Mind of Mine, while Horan was more inclined in pop music, his voice accompanied only by his guitar in his single, “This Town.”

Tomlinson teamed up recently with DJ Steve Aoki to make the electronic hit, “Just Hold On.” Payne is yet to showcase his new music although he has been working on something.

Harry Styles with One Direction bandmates at the BBC Music Awards [Image by Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images]

He will be the final One Direction member to debut as a solo artist. His bandmate may have inadvertently added pressure on that, thanks to the insane success of “Sign of the Times.”

Harry Styles, who is also set to make his big screen debut this year in the Christopher Nolan film Dunkirk, has been filming the music video for “Sign of the Times.” Based on the photos taken by the Sun, it involves the singer flying.

As for the release of the album itself, Harry Styles is yet to provide that information although the word on the street is that it is slated for launch by late this month, if not early May. Thankfully, fans have “Sign of the Times” to get them by.

[Featured Image by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]

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one direction louis tomlinson niall horan zayn malik Adele David Bowie Liam Payne
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