Cultural impact of Harry Styles

English singer Harry Styles has made a significant impact on popular culture with his music, artistry, fashion, identity, tours, and commercial achievements. He is a subject of academic research and media studies, with several academic institutions providing courses about him, generally focused on concepts of gender, sexuality, globalism, consumerism, and fan culture. Styles is regarded as one of the most influential men in music and fashion, and a subject of widespread public interest with a vast fanbase.

His musical career began in 2010 as part of the boy band One Direction, which became one of the best-selling boy bands of all time before going on an indefinite hiatus in 2016. Styles has steadily amassed fame, success, and public interest throughout his career, with several media publications considering him a pop icon, a fashion icon, a global icon, and one of the most successful artists of the 21st century.

Styles has been credited for the rise in vinyl sales and has had simultaneous achievements in physical sales, digital sales, streaming, record charts, and touring. He has inspired several musicians and novelists, with Rolling Stone UK calling him the "new King of Pop" in 2022. Styles has often been described as a successor to artists such as Elton John, David Bowie, Elvis Presley, Freddie Mercury, and Michael Jackson, and one of the culture-defining figures shaping masculinity, femininity, and gender fluidity.