Harry Styles’ mother expresses pride after his record-breaking Wembley run
By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter
Harry Styles has been praised by his mother as “the kind of man the world needs right now” following his record-breaking residency at Wembley Stadium.
The former One Direction star, 32, finished the London leg of his Together, Together tour on Saturday night – in which he performed 12 shows.
The Grammy-winning singer has since been recognised with a Guinness World Record for the longest residency by a musician at the London venue during a single run.
His mother, Anne Twist, took to Instagram on Monday to reflect on how proud she is of her youngest son for the record-breaking feat.
The post featured a throwback photo of Styles as an infant being held by his older sister Gemma, and snaps of the two onstage during the pop star’s final show at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Twist wrote: “From this to this… What a weekend! Hard to get my heart in check.
“From stating back in 1996 that my little boy would end up on stage, doing what I had no idea, but his comedic timing, sunshine personality, and his beautiful soul was visible even then.
“How could I have possibly known then that he would break records doing exactly what he was put in this world to do, that he would grow up being the kind of man the world needs right now.”
Twist also praised her daughter as her “gorgeous girl who has loved and protected him always”, even when the chart-topping star was “the annoying little brother to his quiet, studious big sister”.
She told her 2.4 million followers: “I could not be prouder of you both, as humans, as siblings and as my babies.
“Knowing you are always there for me, but more importantly for each other… Well, that is my biggest achievement… and this is MY award.”
During his final show, Styles welcomed his older sister to the stage where she delivered an emotional tribute expressing her pride and love for him in front of around 80,000 fans.
Gemma told the star she is “proud of who you are and the impact you have made on so many”, and praised the “incredible community that has formed around you”.
The 35-year-old posted a message on Instagram the following day, saying she faced a “full existential crisis” while speaking onstage and that “my legs were like jelly and I had to keep pausing to breathe”.
Styles’ final show also saw him pay tribute to his “four friends” and former One Direction bandmates – Zayn Malik, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and the late Liam Payne.
The chart-topping boyband rocketed to fame after appearing on ITV’s The X Factor in 2010, and the group are known for hits such as What Makes You Beautiful, Little Things and Drag Me Down.
They went on hiatus in 2016, almost a year after Malik left, and the Worcestershire-born star has had four UK number one singles and three UK number one albums as a solo artist.
Styles’ tour marks the most performances by any artist in a single year at Wembley Stadium, surpassing Coldplay’s 10-night run last summer.
Originally announced as a six-night run, significant demand led to the addition of six more shows for the UK leg of the tour.
He is next set to perform in Sao Paulo, Mexico City, New York City and Melbourne, with the tour set to wrap up in Sydney on December 13th.
