Five years after Harry Styles introduced his solo career with “Sign of the Times” in 2017, the atmospheric music video reached one billion YouTube views on Tuesday (Aug. 2).
“Sign of the Times” is from the 28-year-old former One Direction singer’s self-titled debut album, released on May 12, 2017, via Columbia Records. The single debuted and peaked at No. 4 on the Hot 100.
“Most of the stuff that hurts me about what’s going on at the moment is not politics, it’s fundamentals … Equal rights. For everyone, all races, sexes, everything. … ’Sign of the Times’ came from ‘This isn’t the first time we’ve been in a hard time, and it’s not going to be the last time,’” Styles told Rolling Stone at the time of the song’s release. “The song is written from a point of view as if a mother was giving birth to a child and there’s a complication. The mother is told, ‘The child is fine, but you’re not going to make it.’ The mother has five minutes to tell the child, ‘Go forth and conquer.’”
Styles’ self-titled debut went on to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, as did his following two albums, 2019’s Fine Line and 2022’s Harry’s House.
Relive the energy of “Sign of the Times” through watching the music video below.
