In 2023, Harry Styles solidified his position as a top British pop artist by winning a Grammy for his highly praised, platinum-selling album, Harry’s House.

With a huge following eager for new music and opportunities in Hollywood after his role in the 2022 hit film Don’t Worry Darling, many expected the singer from Redditch to ride his wave of success with a slew of profitable albums, movies, and tours.

However, three years later, the 31-year-old former One Direction member has kept a low profile, aside from occasional paparazzi appearances. Most notably, there’s been an absence of fresh music from Harry.

That all changed this week, with an explosion of online speculation that a fourth album is in the works. 

Social media sleuths and die-hard superfans are convinced that Styles is gearing up to release new songs in the coming months, with a fully-formed album to be released in March next year.

Unfortunately, fans may have a much longer wait ahead, as the Daily Mail can today reveal that studio bosses are planning to put the album release on hold until 2027.

In a strategic sales plan, Columbia Records is keen to launch the as-yet-untitled album to coincide with a headline slot at Glastonbury Festival, meaning another two-year wait for fans as the festival is having a fallow year in 2026 – intended to give the farm’s land chance to regrow.

Harry himself is also keen to follow up an album release with a blow-out headline performance at Worthy Farm, followed by a global stadium tour.

‘Harry was gutted not to do this year’s Glastonbury Festival, but he’s near certain to play at the next one, which due to the fallow year in 2026, doesn’t take place until 2027,’ a record label source told the Mail.

‘His next album isn’t finished yet, despite the speculation on some of the fan websites. He’s a perfectionist and wants to make sure the release hits all the right spots.’

‘Bringing the album out in 2027 to coincide with Glastonbury and a world tour makes a lot of sense. It just means fans will have waited five years after the last album came out.’

With pop heavyweights such as Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter releasing albums in quick succession in recent years, it seems music fans are now used to getting new music from their favourite artists on a near-yearly basis. 

And so the five-year gap between Harry’s albums has been a bone of contention among bosses at Columbia, with some staffers suggesting the label release a series of singles to satiate fans.

The Daily Mail can also reveal that there is concern among music executives that the UK music scene, which was outdoing many other countries just a couple of years ago, has suffered from a paucity of decent offerings in recent months. Insiders think the release of selected Styles songs could put it back on top.

Yet, despite the furore around the release date, insiders have told the Daily Mail that Styles, ever a perfectionist, doesn’t want to churn out albums on demand, like some of his contemporaries. 

Instead, he will spend the next year perfecting the songs he has already written and putting together the second half of the album.

Styles’ fanbase refer to the fourth album as ‘HS4’, and online rumours about the release date have been trending on social media for the last few months.

This week, they jumped on an unverified source claiming that Styles had completed his album and was gearing up for a release in early 2026.

The singer has added fuel to the fire after being spotted with a number of artists with whom he is thought to be collaborating.

Harry has been seen with Florence Welch from band Florence and the Machine, members of girlband HAIM, as well as artist and super-producer Fred… again, and soul singer Olivia Dean.

Just a few months ago, he was spotted in Berlin with music producer Kid Harpoon, who worked on Harry’s last album and his hit single As It Was, as well as a number of his tour bandmates.

He is rumoured to have chosen the German city to work on his album due to its connection to his idol David Bowie, who lived there for a time in the 1970s and credited it with helping to save his life as his drug addiction spiralled out of control.

Following his sell-out stadium tour, which saw Styles perform a staggering 173 shows from 2021-2023, he decided to take a well-earned hiatus.

The tour, including shows at Wembley Stadium and Madison Square Gardens, was attended by five million people and raised more than £4.8 million for various charities including Save the Children and Black Lives Matter.

Meanwhile, Harry found the time to pick up Hollywood roles in films, including Don’t Worry Darling and My Policeman, pushing him even further into the spotlight.

But he has shunned red carpets and showbiz parties since the end of his tour, choosing instead to embark on low-key getaways away from the limelight. 

He was spotted in the town of Naas in County Kildare, Ireland, last week, and also taking a hike in the scenic Wicklow Mountains, outside Dublin, with his childhood friend Johnny Harvey.

Harry unwittingly made headlines last month when he was photographed sharing a steamy kiss with producer Ella Kenny at Glastonbury Festival and, just weeks later, appeared in Rome spending time with Belgian-Congolese interior architect and designer Kim Mupangilai.

One thing’s for sure: Harry, who rose to fame when he auditioned on The X Factor back in 2010, will have to make the most of his downtime while he can, because as of 2027 he’ll be well and truly back in the spotlight.