Harry Styles has reportedly been advised to avoid a One Direction reunion.
The 31-year-old pop superstar shot to fame alongside Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Liam Payne – who died in October at the age of 31 after falling from a balcony – as part of the world’s first billion-dollar boyband but now an insider has claimed that any sort of reunion would be a “major step back” in his solo career.
A source told The Sun: “Thousands of hours of blood, sweat and tears have gone into making Harry a superstar and he has spent a decade getting to a place of respect and legitimacy in the music business.
“He has won awards and hit new heights away from the band. Any return would be a major step back.
“Harry knows it already but his team have been very clear that it would be a bad idea at any point in the foreseeable future.”
The muti-Grammy Award-winning star has been praised by high-profile names across the music industry since he broke out as a solo artist in 2017, and the insider added that it could look as if he has “lost faith” in his own career if he were to take on an “easy earner” as a reunion.
The source said: “Everyone from Stevie Nicks to Shania Twain has praised Harry as a solo star and plaudits like that aren’t easy to earn.
“Reunions can often be seen as a cash grab too. It would just look like he has lost faith in his solo career if he bowed out to do something which he knows will be an easy earner in the short term.
“They had amazing success as a group as youngsters, but it’s a different climate for boybands now and even they might struggle with new music.”
A second insider noted that Harry has “reached new levels” since his days with the ‘What Makes You Beautiful’ hitmakers and any sort of reunion would not make any sense.
The source said: “Harry has reached new levels with his solo stardom and he did six nights at the same venue on his last tour.
“It would make no sense financially for him to reunite with them on a tour where he’d then have to split the profits four ways.
“Acts don’t just tour for fun. It’s a job at the end of the day, so you’ve got to think about the money.”