Over the past decade, Harry has been in nothing short of hundreds of interviews.
Recently, the Fine Line singer has been helping to pass the time by stopping by for some five-minute FaceTime chats and calling into local radio shows. While this might have helped him land his first No. 1 on US pop radio with “Adore You” (congrats Harry!), we are always happy to hear an update on what he’s has been up to and chat more about his work.
This interview round has been pretty harmless, and there have been some really excellent interviews over the past year with legends like Zane Lowe and Howard Stern, but sometimes it feels like the same questions are being asked over and over. So let’s take this time to remind interviewers exactly of what we don’t want them to ask.
Of course, not every radio interviewer can be a Harry expert (although more and more of them are really enjoying his music), but we’d expect a bit of research ahead of time into the guests to get the most out of them. Take Harry’s two-hour chat with Zane Lowe for Beats1 Selects (and listen to his song selections on Apple Music below). Zane not only knows and understands Harry’s work but knows how to draw out stories fans have never heard — like the time Harry brought an eighty-year-old drummer on to record fan-favourite “She.”
Every time Zane interviews Harry, we find out something new and something genuinely interesting about either the album or Harry’s musical history. Zane also always seems to be aware of bridging into personal territory, asking Harry to forgive him if a question is too personal or giving Harry the option not to answer if the question is too much.
It seems obvious, but here are some questions we don’t want Harry to answer. Let’s start with the big one: the One Direction Reunion. We’ve heard rumours something might be coming to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the band forming, and we are super excited for whatever that might be. But we are really tired of interviewers asking again and again when and how Louis, Liam, Niall and Harry will be reuniting. They’ve each finally found their individual sound and their solo projects are going well.
If it takes until 2050 for a One Direction reunion to gain momentum, then we’ll be waiting here for the surprise. And a surprise is exactly what we want it to be.
Some quickfire or fun filler questions are fine (like asking if he’s watching Tiger King or whatever else is blossoming in popularity), but it’s really uncomfortable to listen to invasive questions asking about Harry’s family or personal life. We don’t need to know where or who he is self-isolating with. It is his decision whether or not to publicise his private life or to stay away from social media when he isn’t working.
Harry’s pretty good at redirecting questions though, so if he doesn’t want to answer something, we’re sure he had to sit through enough media training in his teens that he knows how to navigate it.
Does anybody remember that iconic almost car-crash interview of Harry, Niall, and Liam in Mexico, clearly tired of a long day of interviews (and definitely more immature than they are now)? They were plagued with questions that had more to do with a leopard print dress then the musical progression of Midnight Memories.
Watch it below if you’ve never seen it, but you might need a tour T-shirt to cringe behind. I’m sure they loved to hear that they were hotter in Midnight Memories than the previous album rather than their move towards anthemic hits. If the interview is for a single or album promo, then it’s probably better to have at least listened to that song or album and be prepared to ask about it.
It should be clear by now that we prefer questions that have artistic or musical merit. It isn’t like Harry is short of inspiration: He’s a fashion king, involved in charitable projects, and produces music videos layered with imagery that can be discussed. There is arguably no better version of Harry than him talking about his own music or musical influences — so more of this, please!
Now that you know what not to ask Harry, take some time to figure out what you’d ask instead and why. Let us know, and if we ever get the chance to have a chit-chat, maybe yours will be the one we ask!
my favourite harry's interview outfits
from the hs1 era ; a thread ✨⠀ ⠀ — harry at rtl 102.5, 12 may 2017 pic.twitter.com/2hAs4k3odO
— виcти (@viki_horn) April 10, 2020