From the moment the curtain dropped on Harry Styles ’ 169-date, Billboard Boxscore-smashing Love On Tour in Reggio Emilia, Italy, in July 2023, speculation surrounding the British singer’s next move mounted. Would he truly step away at the peak of his powers? And, perhaps more dauntingly, how could he eclipse one of the defining touring achievements of the decade? As Love On Tour expanded from North American arenas to stadiums across the U.K. and Europe, it capped the former One Direction member’s most commercially and culturally dominant era yet. Over the course of a near decade-long solo career, the success of his 2022 album Harry’s House , which scooped the Grammy for album of the year, was the exception, not the rule: Unlike earlier hits such as 2019’s “Watermelon Sugar,” which steadily built momentum throughout lockdown, lead single “As It Was” arrived as an instant global phenomenon. What changed was that Styles evolved from a charismatic, if ten...