Harry Styles to Play Special SiriusXM-Pandora Concert in New York
By Jem Aswad
LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Harry Styles will perform a special concert for SiriusXM and Pandora on February 28 at a secret location in New York, the satellite radio giant announced today. According to the announcement, the “intimate set for subscribers and listeners will feature Styles performing songs from his recent sophomore album, ‘Fine Line,’” and will include an interview with the singer by The Morning Mash Up hosts Ryan Sampson, Nicole Ryan and Stanley T.
While SiriusXM regularly uses Harlem’s iconic Apollo Theater for special concerts by artists like Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, U2 and Lady Gaga (and announced one with Pearl Jam for next month), the word “intimate” suggests that this one is on a smaller scale.
The performance and interview will air on February 29 at 6 p.m. ET on SiriusXM Hits1, channel 2 on satellite radios and on the SiriusXM app.
Released in December, “Fine Line,” debuted atop the Rolling Stone album chart with a surprising 510,100 equivalent album units — the second biggest debut week of last year. Only Taylor Swift had a bigger bow in 2019, as “Lover” debuted on the RS chart in August with 991,800 album units. Styles’ debut was even bigger than the one afforded ahead of Post Malone, whose “Hollywood’s Bleeding” entered with 500,300 earlier in the year and is now knocked down to third place, as 2019 opening weeks go.
The album went No. 1 in countries including Canada, Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Ireland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Brazil and several Southeast Asian countries, his label, Columbia, reports.
Variety‘s review called Styles “one of the good guys, in how he’s defying blockbuster expectations by following his muse back into the classic rock era and casually claiming it as his own.”
Styles is the rare star who’s on a marked upward trajectory in album sales. His previous effort bowed in 2017 with less than half the numbers of the current one. At least some of the huge uptick can be attributed to albums being offered as a bundle with tickets for his 2020 arena tour.
The album also debuted atop the rankings compiled by Nielsen, which said it was the biggest bow for a male solo artist from the UK since such tallies began being kept in the early ’90s.
