Harry Styles strips off for Rolling Stone. (Instagram)
In a much-awaited cover interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Harry Styles has talked about his “aura of sexual ambiguity” and why his new album is about sex and heartbreak.
Styles, 25, was profiled by US music journalist Rob Sheffield in a cover feature entitled “The Eternal Sunshine of Harry Styles“.
“Harry likes to cultivate an aura of sexual ambiguity, as overt as the pink polish on his nails,” the article says.
“He’s dated women throughout his life as a public figure, yet he has consistently refused to put any kind of label on his sexuality. On his first solo tour, he frequently waved the pride, bi, and trans flags, along with the Black Lives Matter flag.”
The article goes on to answer the question of why Styles waves those flags.
“I want to make people feel comfortable being whatever they want to be,” he says.
“Maybe at a show you can have a moment of knowing that you’re not alone. I’m aware that as a white male, I don’t go through the same things as a lot of the people that come to the shows.
“I can’t claim that I know what it’s like, because I don’t. So I’m not trying to say, ‘I understand what it’s like.’ I’m just trying to make people feel included and seen.”
At one of Styles’ first shows in Stockholm, he said, “If you are black, if you are white, if you are gay, if you are straight, if you are transgender — whoever you are, whoever you want to be, I support you. I love every single one of you.”
It’s Harry Styles’ second time on Rolling Stones‘ cover
This is the second time the ‘Sign of the Times’ singer has graced the front of Rolling Stone, previously being featured in May 2017 around the release of his debut album.
In the September 2019 issue of Rolling Stone, Styles talks about why he feels it’s so important to make these kind of statements.
“It’s a room full of accepting people.… If you’re someone who feels like an outsider, you’re not always in a big crowd like that,” he says. “It’s not about, ‘Oh, I get what it’s like,’ because I don’t.”
He adds another example: “I go walking at night before bed most of the time. I was talking about that with a female friend and she said, ‘Do you feel safe doing that?’ And I do. But when I walk, I’m more aware that I feel OK to walk at night, and some of my friends wouldn’t. I’m not saying I know what it feels like to go through that. It’s just being aware.”
The magazine released the preview of the September edition to its four million followers on Instagram on August 24.