Read an Excerpt
Chapter 1
Styles in Every Direction
Everyone knows that Harry began his career in One Direction . . . or did he?! The name of his first band is super ironic considering the charmed career of charming Harry Styles—because in addition to skyrocketing, his career has gone in many directions!
When Harry first appeared on The X Factor, he was voted off! Can you even? He was only sixteen years old and auditioned at Manchester Central. He sang an enchanting rendition of Stevie Wonder’s “Isn’t She Lovely,” which judge Nicole Scherzinger loved. But another judge, Louis Walsh, didn’t think he was ready for the big-time competition. So he was sent to boot camp, and still he failed to qualify for the “Boys” category.
But guess who else also failed?
One hundred percent correct: Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, and Zayn Malik. The mind reels.
We’ve all seen the clip of Harry’s audition. He rocked it. His charm beams through the camera, and his voice is practically perfect. To not even get a spot? What were they thinking? Or was it all a ruse to keep viewers tuned in until they sorted out exactly what to do with these five adorbs guys who were clearly talented out the wazoo?
Here’s the thing of it: Have you ever played a game of Simon Says? And wondered who the heck was Simon that he got to tell everyone what to do? Us too.
By now, you’re probably wondering why in the world we’re bringing this up, as the Simon of The X Factor was born centuries after the playground game became a thang. But trust us as we throw back to the twenty-first century to tell you there’s a reason Simon Cowell is Simon Cowell.
And we should all do what he says because the man knows his business! Although the boys didn’t progress as solo acts, Simon says (see what we did there?), “It was really weird. I just said, ‘Why don’t we put these guys into a group?’ It took ten minutes!” Rightly, Simon thought they were “too talented to let go of.”
But wait! We have SCOOP! drama!
Was it Simon Cowell or Nicole Scherzinger who had the idea to put them together?!?! They both make that claim to fame! We already know that Simon said it took him ten minutes to realize they were perfect for forming a group, but Nicole says it was her idea. “I just thought: ‘Wow, these boys! None of them were strong enough to make [it] through, but they’d make a killer group,’ ” Nicole said. Then she added quite the endnote: “I think they said the footage of me suggesting it mysteriously disappeared.”
Well, we’re not going to quibble about exactly who said it first, because anyone who took one look at that group of guys could tell they would knock it out of the park.
It was Harry who came up with the idea to name the group One Direction, naturally. He was also the one who came up with the name for his high school band, White Eskimo. He’s just that kind of guy, you know? Wit, charm, and lots of good energy have brought Mr. Styles far. It’s as if he was born with those qualities. In fact, his mum, Anne, fessed up that, “Ever since he was young he’s made people smile. I always thought he’d end up on the stage.”
What’s hard to believe is that during their first year on The X Factor, One Direction came in third behind Rebecca Ferguson and Matt Cardle. What’s NOT hard to believe is that the 1D boys were the life and soul of The X Factor that season! Sources say the boys were always up to something, one off hiding in a cupboard, another off trying on clothes, full of hijinks and fun.
Of course, Harry stood out as the star and was adored by all.
