Harry Styles Reveals Why He Burst into Tears After Going Solo: 'I Felt Free'

Harry Styles enjoyed a memorable five years with One Direction — but was plenty relieved once he said goodbye.

The "As It Was" singer opened up about his journey from boy-bander to rock star in a new interview with Better Homes & Gardens for their June cover, and poignantly reflected on his time as a member of the group from 2010 to 2015.

Styles, 28, explained that with One Direction, it became engrained in him that in order to be successful, he needed to be likeable — and that meant being well-behaved.

"In lockdown, I started processing a lot of stuff that happened when I was in the band," he said, noting that he was encouraged to give much of himself away in order "to get people to engage with you, to like you."

The Grammy winner said that journalists often peppered him with questions about his sex life, and he often left interviews worried that he'd said the wrong thing, a misstep that could possibly wind up voiding one of the cleanliness clauses he signed in his contracts.

Styles explained that those contracts often scared him into being on his best behavior —and when he finally went solo and signed a new contract that did not include such terms, he burst into tears.

"I felt free," he said.

Leaving One Direction was scary for the star, who told Better Homes & Gardens that he feared life outside the boyband rigmarole.

"There were so many years where, for me, especially in the band and the first few years coming out of it, I'd just been terrified of it ending, because I didn't necessarily know who I was if I didn't do music," he said.

Even when his time in One Direction did end, Styles' fears remained, especially when it came to putting out his first, self-titled album in 2017.

"[It was scary] because I'd come out of the band, and it was like, if I want to be taken seriously as a musician, then I can't make fun music," he recalled. "[It was] bowling with the bumpers up, playing it safe."

With his fears no longer clouding his decision-making, Styles said he's eagerly awaiting the release of his upcoming third album Harry's House on May 20, as it's the first time he doesn't feel as though "my life is over if this album isn't a commercial success."

"I just want to make stuff that is right, that is fun, in terms of the processes, that I can be proud of for a long time, that my friends can be proud of, that my family can be proud of, that my kids will be proud of one day," he said.

Styles debuted the album's first single "As It Was" earlier this month, and recently unveiled two new tracks at Coachella, the acoustic ballad "Boyfriends" and the groovy "Late Night Talking."

Better Homes & Gardens also revealed the name of a fourth song on the tracklist titled "Daylight."