Harry Styles was yet again another hot topic in the realm of social media after last Sunday’s 65th Annual Grammy Awards.
Styles was up against Brandi Carlile, Mary J. Blige, ABBA, Coldplay, Bad Bunny, Adele, Lizzo, Kendrick Lamar, and Beyoncé for album of the year.
With Harry being in a category with so many accomplished artists, disagreement arose when Beyoncé fans were outraged by the win, shouting things like “Beyoncé should have won,” and “Get off the stage,” during Styles’ acceptance speech.
With Styles’ popularity in 2022, it was extremely likely he had album of the year in the bag.
Touring since 2021, he has been all over the world. From the UK to Europe to South America, he has been booked and busy. While touring in the States, Styles made history with 15 consecutive nights at Madison Square Garden back in September 2022, being the third person with a banner alongside Billy Joel and Phish.
Styles’ critically acclaimed single ‘As It Was’, previously smashed records on the Billboard charts, with a 14th week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and a record 15th week atop the Billboard Global 200. The song ties for the fourth-longest reign in Billboard Hot 100 history, and the longest-running solo No. 1 song. ‘As It Was’ is also the first song ever to spend its first 24 weeks on the top three positions on the same chart, with 23 of the 24 in the top two, extending its record, as well as the longest song that any artist from the UK has been at number one.
This all however, wasn’t seen by many, which resulted in the hatred towards Styles’ memorable night.
“I think on nights like tonight it’s important for us to remember there is no such thing as ‘best’ in music. I don’t think any of us sit in the studio making decisions on what is going to get us one of these,” Styles said, referring to the award in his hand, which he won for his album Harry’s House.
But it was the last sentence of his speech that riled up social media users, who viewed it differently than what he actually meant: “This doesn’t happen to people like me very often and this is so, so nice. Thank you very much,” Styles said.
Some wondered what Styles meant by “people like me,” as he is a white male artist nominated in the same category as artists of color.
Seeing that we are currently in Black History Month, people started to speculate that what Harry said was in relation to white privilege.
As someone who came up from nothing — working in a bakery, having a single mother supporting him, and entering The X Factor where he had little to no chance of getting anywhere, he was acknowledging the struggles one may face that occur and possibly prevent someone from pursuing their dreams.
Many Styles fans took to social media to remind individuals to be kind and supportive, no matter who won the album of the year award, something that Harry is all about. After all, he did write ‘Treat People With Kindness’ on his 2019 album Fine Line, and basically coined the catchphrase.
This event has shown us that taking special moments away from other artists in another artists’ defense is very ignorant. Being able to show support to any artists for their achievements in their career is something people need to take into account more often.
