On 23 June 2016, it was confirmed that Harry Styles had signed a solo recording contract with Columbia Records.

After filming Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk in France, Holland and LA between May and September 2016, he remained incognito for much of the rest of that year.

An Another Man magazine article with three distinctive covers and separate editorial shoots was released in September. The struggle to obtain precious copies to keep was felt far and wide! 

A Launch Party followed on 6 October, hosted by Harry, Kris Van Assche of Dior Homme, and Alister Mackie, Creative Director of Another Man, at Albert's Club, Old Brompton Road, London, SW7.

After this, we now know Harry spent part of his down-time writing, recording, and producing his debut solo album at Geejam Studios in Port Antonio, Jamaica.

The arrival of 2017 and on 25 March Harry unexpectedly dropped a TV ad during The Voice UK, giving a snippet of his new music to come. More teasing on 28 March in the form of a website that popped up with just one image that many spent hours trying to decipher, after inputting their details as requested of course! Social media was suddenly alive from its Harry hiatus hibernation!

On 31 March Harry revealed through his social media that his debut solo single would be titled, 'Sign of the Times.' His great friend Ben Winston commented on Instagram 'this song is pretty incredible #bullet' that had us all wondering. We did not have to wait long.

On 7 April, Harry was interviewed on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show by his good friend, Nick Grimshaw where the 5 minute 40 second multi-genre ballad that is SOTT premiered. It was released later the same day via Columbia and Erskine Records (Harry's own independent label).

A music video for SOTT directed by Woodkid followed that saw Harry cut a large hole in the back of his Gucci Wool Cashmere Coat and, suspended from a helicopter, fly 1500 feet up around  the beautiful setting that is the Isle of Skye in Scotland. The video was released on 8 May.

On 13 April it was revealed the album would be self-titled and the artwork and track list were revealed. Once again social media was a hive of activity and sales of pink bath bombs soared!

Harry was invited to be the musical guest on Saturday Night Live on 15 April, hosted by Jimmy Fallon. This was the first time SNL had aired live coast to coast. As well a dancing to David Bowie's 'Let's Dance' in the opening monologue, he pulled off a brilliantly funny impression of Mick Jagger in a game of Celebrity Family Feud stating, "Solo? Why would anyone in a successful band go solo? That's insane!"

In a Civil War sketch, he played a Rebel prisoner with a glued on beard with a mind of its own and sang "party at my parents house" with a group of Union soldiers.

Undoubtedly though what fans all over the world had tuned in for was to see him perform solo for the very first time. Playing guitar, he delivered two songs - 'Ever Since New York' and 'SOTT' - and much pride to all of us watching from every corner of the globe.

On 18 April, 'Harry Styles New Direction' an article by Cameron Crowe, the American director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author, and actor was published in Rolling Stone Magazine. Crow was given exclusive access to Harry over a number of days and their 'hanging out' resulted in a more in-depth piece about him for the reader than ever published before. Crow described Harry's music writing as 'clever and soulful'.   

Back in the UK, on 21 April Harry appeared on the Graham Norton Show to perform SOTT for the first time on UK TV. Smashing the top notes of the song, he was rewarded with a huge supportive cheer from the audience. Clearly relieved and happy, he joined the other guests on the couch for an expression truth or lie game.

Five days later on 26 April, Harry travelled to Paris by Eurostar to perform SOTT and be interviewed on Quotidien.

In a rare tweet and website message, on 28 April he announced Harry Styles Live on Tour, listing the dates and 'See You Soon'.  Tickets were to go on sale on 5 May.

On his social media on 2 May, Harry announced - 'Sweet Creature is available now. Album is available in ten days. I am available always.'

The first 29 dates of the tour to be announced were for small venues, seating audiences of approximately 3-5k across the UK, US, Europe, Singapore, Australia, New Zealand and Japan. The scramble for pre-registration and securing tickets was real with most venues selling out in seconds.

Disappointed fans were relieved when a second leg of the tour was announced on 8 June that will see Harry tour 59 dates all over from March to July 2018. Scramble for tickets take two commenced!

On 8 May, Harry performed a secret gig in the back room of Brooklyn's Rough Trade Record Store for iHeartRadio. In the moment, he decided to stage dive but sadly all did not go to plan when he fell to the floor. Reflecting on the experience, he said, "I've always wanted to do that. It felt like an appropriate time."  Poor Harry!

As part of the Citi Concert Series, he performed on NBC's Today Show on 9 May on their plaza at the Rockefeller Centre in New York. Treating the huge crowd to Ever Since New York, SOTT and Carolina, the biggest cheer went up for One Direction's Stockholm Syndrome.

On 11 May, an invitation only event to the 'Behind the Album' documentary was first screened in West London. The 49 minute film, made by Fulwell 73, chronicles a deeper look into how the album was made with behind-the-scenes footage from Jamaica, LA and London, an interview, as well as Harry and his band performing the album songs for the first time together at the world famous Abbey Road Studios. It was released for general viewing via Apple iTunes on 15 May.

After what had seemed the longest wait, 'Harry Styles' by Harry Styles was released to the world on 12 May. It was satisfying that none of the material had been leaked and this was largely due to the fact that only two copies existed on no-internet-connection iPods.

Harry was interviewed again by Nick Grimshaw on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show, Chris Evans on the Radio 2 Breakfast Show and performed Sweet Creature on BBC's The One Show later that evening. Interviews also took place that day with amongst others - Smallzy Surgery, Nova FM; Ash London Live; KIIS1065; The Hits Official with Tom Green; RTL1025 Italy; Cauet at NJR; plus an iHeart Radio Album Release Party.

The following day on 13 May at 8am, Harry announced via Twitter that he would be playing an intimate show for 600 fans at The Garage in Highbury, North London. Tickets were £10 and only available in person from the box office. All proceeds went towards the Little Princess Trust charity - the same charity to which Harry donated his hair when he had it cut short on 6 May 2016 for his role in Dunkirk. He performed all ten songs from his album and covers of Kanye West's 'Ultra Lightbeam' and One Direction's 'Stockholm Syndrome'.

Over in the US, Harry held a week-long residency on the Late Late Show from 15 to 18 May. The week was a complete Harry melange - Sign of the Times, Two Ghosts, Carolina, and Kiwi; Side Effects May with a juggling Harry; Can't Get Into the Studio; Singing Problem in hospital theatre, funeral service and bomb disposal; and a game of Flinch with English Tea and favourite fruits.

Also of course, who could forget the brilliant Carpool Karaoke with the iconic fashion and rom com acting sketches. We were all crying but only in a cool way!

On 19 May, Harry played another intimate secret show at The Troubadour in LA. Similar to the Garage gig, all proceeds went towards the LA charity, Safe Place for Youth. This night was very special because Harry's idol and friend, Stevie Nicks, joined him on stage for three memorable performances of Two Ghosts, Leather & Lace, and Landslide. Everyone was emotional but not as swept away as Harry himself. He described it as a 'priviledge.'  It certainly was a dream come true for him that night.

On 23 May, Harry was due to perform his third intimate sold out gig at The Lunario in Mexico City. Sadly, the terrorist attack at the Ariana Grande concert the previous night in Manchester altered his plans. He told the audience:-

'Thank you so much for being here tonight. I know a lot of you have flown a long way. I really appreciate you being here. When I booked this show, I wanted to celebrate with you guys. I've played some of my favourite shows in Mexico, and it felt right to come and celebrate with you, but tonight doesn't feel like a night to celebrate. Last night, there was a tragedy in my hometown of Manchester, and I have been left with a hole in my heart.

We have a choice – every single day that we wake up – of what we can put into the world, and I ask you to please choose love every single day. I promise that we will be back very soon to Mexico with a full show, but tonight if it's OK with you we're going to play a small acoustic set.

"I hope you understand, and I hope you'll join me in a moment of silence for the victims and for the families of the victims in Manchester today. Thank you for understanding. I love you very much."

Back in London, on 8 June Harry appeared in a small sketch, 'The Phone Is For You,' on the Late Late Show with James Cordon that was being filmed in the city. His performance of Two Ghosts on the roof of the Methodist Central Hall in Westminster with the beautiful backdrop of the London skyline at night including Big Ben and the London Eye was magical.

The 13 July was another long awaited event, the Dunkirk premiere in London.  What followed was a busy few weeks concentrating on film promo with the other cast members and Christopher Nolan, including the French premiere in Dunkirk on 16 July and the New York premiere on 18 July. Harry gave his time generously to fans at both the London and Dunkirk premieres.

Harry was becoming a permanent fixture on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. His third appearance on 17 July was to talk about Dunkirk and he played a Heart Monitor Challenge with some interesting results that sent Twitter into a frenzy.

On 19 July on the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon Harry made a wish to host the show!

On 21 August it was announced by BBC Music that a world exclusive hour-long show 'Harry at the BBC' hosted by Radio 1's Nick Grimshaw would be filmed at Media City in Manchester on 30 August. Tickets were limited and those lucky enough to be selected from the ballot to be in the audience enjoyed an interview and performances not before seen on TV. The show is due to be broadcast on the BBC on 1 November 2017.

Back in London, on 31 August Harry performed Two Ghosts on ITVs Jonathan Ross as well as taking part in The Cube's 'Expulsion Challenge' game with the other guests.

In LA on 9 September, Harry took to the small Nova's Red Room stage to perform for an audience of around 15 Australian fans who had won the amazing prize through the radio station. A short interview with Smallzy was also recorded for radio play the following week.

Originally scheduled for 13 September but brought forward because The Killers were forced to cancel due to Hurricane Irma, Harry stepped up to perform his first solo Radio 1 Live Lounge on 11 September. Two Ghosts and SOTT were expected but his cover of The Chain by Fleetwood Mac blew everyone away!

On 15 September, Harry took to the stage at LA's Grammy Museum for a Q&A with Cameron Crow. They were joined by producer, Jeff Bhasker. Of the album making process, Harry confessed, "it was the most fun I've ever had. I didn't feel any pressure."

Of course it is not possible to list every possible TV appearance, radio interview or magazine article. These include The Sunday Times Magazine article, The Observer article, interviews on Capital Radio London, Heart Radio UK, interviews On Air With Ryan Seacrest, Ash London radio show, Smallzy, Darryl Harris on Key 103 in Manchester, David Greene NPR LA, and the list goes on and on!

And that brings us to 19 September, the day the tour began in San Francisco. What follows is a diary of its success.

I hope you enjoy it and would love it if everyone got involved. Please comment or contact me here on Wattpad or on Twitter if you would like to contribute your experience of seeing and hearing Harry live on tour - a word, a phrase, a moment, a sentence, a photo, or even go the whole hog and write a whole paragraph.

Enjoy! LVO x