There is safety in numbers, so the saying goes. But every so often a band member takes the risk and goes solo – and sometimes, it pays off. After the release of the new album by Harry Styles, the One Direction heartthrob-turned-international pop star, the Observer has curated some of the best tracks from artists who have achieved huge success in their own right.
Listen to the Observer’s playlist of the week here.
Styles’s first solo outing was his self-titled album in 2017, which showed glimmers of the artist he would become. But it was on his second record, Fine Line, that this former bakery worker found his voice. The title track, a six-minute-long croon that slowly builds to a gorgeous orchestral crescendo, is one of his best.
No one could ever accuse Björk of blending into a crowd. The Icelandic founder of the post-punk band the Sugarcubes has had a profound impact on the texture of pop music, fashion and culture at large. Her 1993 debut album is a rollercoaster through pop, house and jazz – all present on Big Time Sensuality.
Talking Heads’ David Byrne could easily have retired on the band’s success, but the 73-year-old is still innovating his distinctive sound, and shows absolutely no sign of stopping. What Is The Reason For It? (featuring another fellow band member-turned-solo artist Hayley Williams, of Paramore) is one of many brilliant tracks on his latest LP, Who Is The Sky?, which he is currently touring in the UK.
It's hard to believe it now, but the first band to win The X Factor wasn’t One Direction – it was Little Mix. After huge commercial success, the girl group announced they would be pursuing solo projects in 2021. Jade Thirlwall has been the one to break through and make her own mark. Her 2025 album That’s Showbiz Baby! was a slept-on gem of last year, featuring disco-funk fun on this track, Fantasy.
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Spare a thought for the “quiet”, forgotten Beatles member George Harrison, who showed his true colours once free of the band in his masterful triple-album All Things Must Pass. This song, If Not for You, is one for the lovers.
Illustration by Charlotte Durance