Harry's Health

Harry’s Health 

We’ve all heard Harry's House, but have we heard about Harry Styles and his health? Harry is an incredibly talented singer, an amazing actor and one of the hottest celebrity names in the world. Almost everyone knows of him, whether that’s through his music, his dating life or his movies, Harry has become a household name since he appeared on the X Factor in 2010. 

Harry is someone who has been in the public eye since the age of sixteen and for many of us, we grew up alongside Harry. However his rise to fame hasn’t been the easiest on him especially in regard to his health. He’s had to battle through illness on multiple occasions to enable himself to perform for fans, but at times watching the shows back, not only should Harry not have been on stage, he should have been getting medical attention. 

We know from others that the music industry is abusive and have heard from Rebecca Ferguson that her management team forced her to ignore doctors in order for her to be able to fly. We also know that Niall Horan was denied time off for necessary knee surgery and has now got lifelong problems with his knee as a result, but with Harry he had repeated times on stage where he needed inhalers, struggled for breath or on one occasion couldn’t perform at all. 

Why is this important? Harry’s lungs were under enormous pressure as vocally Harry is and was one of the most vocally powerful singers in One Direction so he had a number of songs where he was singing more than the other members of the band and later was singing challenging runs that he at times struggled with due to illness. 

Over the course of six weeks Harry struggled to shift a cold/ chest infection and fans noticed that his lungs would be irritated by the fog released during shows. He would cough, gasp, hold his chest and wince in discomfort while on stage. At times he was raspy, breathless and had to use an beta-2 agonist inhaler to reduce the inflammation in his airways to allow him to sing. 

Fans noticed that Harry would often be on vocal rest during promo times and interviews and was pushed to the limits of endurance during the multiple shows and tours that the band were forced to agree to. The practices of Modest Management have been called into question on multiple occasions by former clients such as Katie Waisell, Rebecca Ferguson, Little Mix, Cher Lloyd and other former X Factor contestants so there is multiple pieces of evidence that they allegedly abused their clients. They also managed One Direction and there is an article on the abuse of the boys that will be linked at the bottom. 

Fans watched in horror as Zayn was woken after only ten minutes sleep and forced to go and record vocals and it makes sense that this wasn’t uncommon for any of the boys, especially since Zayn instantly got up and went. It’s common knowledge that One Direction recorded their albums while touring and albums were recorded on tour buses and hotel rooms. 

This amount of excessive working caused the boys to get used to such little down time and could have led to extreme fatigue which puts people at risk of illness because the body’s ] stores are used up to keep them going instead of fighting off infection. Further, Harry had to use inhalers on stage and was irritated by the fog released. This would also have put extra pressure on his lungs, along with a crazy schedule, cold and wet nights on stage. All of these factors could and would have contributed to problems that Harry would have experienced as a member of One Direction. 

In Harry’s solo years we’ve also at times noticed that he’s struggling with breathing while on tour. He’s had breathlessness, nasal flaring, pursed lips, clamminess, coughing fits and we have seen him  gasping in breaths between songs. He has also at times been seen to use his shoulders to assist with the intake of breath and this is worrying, especially coupled with the fact that during his 2018 tour he was still using the dry ice (compressed carbon dioxide) that it was already noted he reacted to. 

One has to ask why this was used when it irritated the singer's airway. Surely having a healthy singer is more worthwhile than the effect of fog on the stage? I fail to understand why this was continued to be used into his solo career when he’d struggled with it on multiple occasions during One Direction. 

Another time we noticed Harry sick during his solo years was during Love on Tour part two when he was performing in Chicago and there were oxygen tanks on stage. Harry required oxygen through a rebreathe mask while performing. Using oxygen can reduce breathlessness, but it should only be used under medical supervision since excessive use of oxygen can lead to oxygen toxicity. 

The fact that he came out on stage with shaking hands, gasping for breath, struggling to perform and yet he nevertheless powered through shows how much of a consummate professional that Harry is, but one question that needs addressing is why, if Harry was struggling during his residencies as he appeared to be- then why oh why did his team then schedule a further tour the following year? 

Harry has had many struggles over the years with his physical health and while he works hard to maintain his fitness, pushing his body to excess is going to lead to collapse. He’s not performing just now, and personally I hope he’s finding time to rest and take care of himself. 

One thing is sure though, the music industry pushes their performers beyond what is acceptable and fans need to be able to see behind the scenes and realise that all that glitters isn’t gold. Scratch the surface of that glitter and you’ll see an industry full of abuse, coercion, manipulation and physical exhaustion. 

Stars are more than their ™ and as such are worth dignity, compassion and time off when they are sick. I understand that canceling concerts must be a logistical nightmare, but people cannot help being sick and pushing people to perform when clearly unwell could lead to long term health effects, hospitalisation and premature death.

 It’s time record labels did better and management companies started fighting for the clients instead of for the record labels. The world needs to open its eyes and notice that musicians are not infallible beings, but humans who need to rest and recover from illness, just like everyone else. 

Behind The Curtains.