Harry Styles waited for One Direction to split before experimenting with drugs.
The 25-year-old singer – who rose to fame at the age of 16 on ‘The X Factor’ in 2010 along with his bandmates Zayn Malik, Louis Thomlinson, Liam Payne and Niall Horan – didn’t want to jeopardise the success of the band, who had a fan base predominantly made up of children, so he waited before dabbling with substances.
He told Zane Lowe: "When I was in the band, to me it felt like it was so much bigger than any of us I felt , I’m not going to be the one who f***ed it up … I’m not going to be the guy who messes it up. So I was like, I’m not going to do any of that stuff."
The boy band went on an indefinite hiatus in 2016 following four number one albums and four mammoth world tours.
Harry immediately embarked on his solo career, and allowed himself to have more freedom in his lifestyle.
He shared: "I was like, now is the time in my life when you probably go out and experiment, and do this and you take this and you do that. And that’s what you do with your friends."
The ‘Watermelon Sugar’ hitmaker first tried magic mushrooms last year whilst recording in Malibu in the famous Shangri-La studios, and he admitted it felt like the right time to take the hallucinogenic fungus because he felt "safe".
Harry also believes that using magic mushrooms helped the creative process.
Harry admitted: "Making this album was all about freedom. I had a big moment … I think part of the thing with the mushrooms thing for me is that I never do anything when I’m working, and I don’t even drink when I’m working, if I’m touring or anything. I don’t drink really at all.
"Making this record felt like… I just felt so much more joyous. And I was with my friends, and we were in Malibu I felt so safe. It was like, I want to take some mushrooms, I’m going to take some. Like now’s the time to have fun. Like we’re in Malibu. 24. I’m also in music. I’m not like, do you know what I mean? I’m not-I’m not a politician. I don’t think it’s that crazy. I think my thing with drugs is, if you’re taking anything to escape both to try and hide from stuff then you shouldn’t even drink. And if you’re taking anything to have fun and be creative, then great. I was with my friends and making an album, you obviously get so in your head and you get so self-conscious about everything and you hit these bumps in the road where you’re thinking this is good enough, and is it this enough? Is that enough? There’s an after flow of some of that stuff where sometimes you take something, and then for 10 days after you’re like, ‘Don’t worry about it, everything’s going to be fine. It’s stress relieving in a sense. I think that that’s been a big part of this whole thing for me is I’m just trying to go through life being a little less worried about stuff. Definitely with working because ultimately it will be OK. If you don’t hit the top of the chart, your life doesn’t change."
Harry Styles waited until he was done with 1D to experiment with drugs
