One Direction star and Taylor Swift's songwriting fodder Harry Styles is gearing up to release his debut single as a solo artist this week.
The singer and occasional actor revealed the artwork for the single, Sign Of The Times, on his Twitter account following his signing to Columbia records in June.
SIGN.OF.THE.TIMES // 7.APRIL.17 // pic.twitter.com/W6ij1giOdX
— Harry Styles. (@Harry_Styles) March 31, 2017
He joins fellow bandmates Zayn Malik, Niall Horan and Louis Tomlinson, who have all released material on their lonesome in some capacity since the band's hiatus announced in 2016 (Liam Payne has signed a deal with Capitol Records, but he may be putting it on the back-burner considering he just became a father).
In celebration of Mr Styles valiant quest to save pop music, let's take a look at some other boyband members who've attempted to go it alone...
Justin Timberlake - 'Justified'
The original, and still the best - Justin Timberlake mended the hearts of many wounded by the split of *NSYNC by delivering an album full of R&B smoothies courtesy of super producer Timbaland.
Cry Me A River set the bar for all call-out songs and cryptic videos, and set us up for the most thrilling two-part clap-back of all time with What Goes Around... (...Comes Around).
It also marked the era in which JT decided to embrace a hairstyle that didn't resemble ramen noodles.
Robbie Williams - Life Thru A Lens
The most prolific post-boyband solo artist, Robbie's released 11 albums without Gary Barlow and the others members of Take That who are absolutely just as relevant.
His first solo album, 'Life Thru A Lens', saw Robbie struggle to be taken seriously on his own, with commercial success evading him - that was, until fourth single Angels. Despite only peaking at number 4, it has sold over 1 million copies in the UK and is his biggest selling single to date.
It's successor, Let Me Entertain You, also didn't top the charts, coming in at a humble number 5 (good thing to keep in mind next time you lose a table quiz).
Most recently, his latest endeavor 'The Heavy Entertainment Show' courted with controversy after Russia media said it was "racist" towards Russians.
According to the man himself on Party Like A Russian - "Ain't no refutin' or disputin' – I'm a modern Rasputin".
Nick Jonas - Nick Jonas
Former Disney child star and permanent Jonas Brother Nick Jonas succeeded in releasing one of the most problematic pop songs of 2014.
Jealous sees Jonas play the insecure man-baby boyfriend, infuriated by the fact that his lady-friend regularly posts on Instagram and regularly receives attention from other men.
On the other hand - that falsetto though ...
(Let the record show that Jonas' then-girlfriend Olivia Culpo stars in the video for Jealous, but are no longer together. Pure coincidence, surely?)
Nick Carter
Older brother to Aaron, Nick Carter released Now Or Never in 2002 when the Backstreet Boys expressed a desire to change management. Carter proved to be ahead of the curve on issues such as toxic masculinity - a concept people still seem to struggle with more than 15 years later.
"Relationships go bad, and things happen, and sometimes, you just want to break down, and you just want to go to [the extreme] and cry, you now?" he told MTV of the song Do I Have to Cry For You? "That's what that song is about. It's kind of a like a guy saying he's not too afraid to cry for his woman, because of things that have gone on, and the video really does express that."
The other members of Backstreet Boys all pursued solo careers to varying degrees of success. However, AJ McClean's alter ego Johnny No Good is perhaps the most impressive.
His Wikipedia reads: "The character has similarities to McLean; for instance, both had single mothers, and lived with their grandparents from a young age. There are also differences – Johnny has been to prison whereas McLean has not." Amazing.
