--- title: Harry Styles Says Teenage Girls Are "Our Future" description: Former One Direction member Harry Styles defended young girls' taste in music during an interview with 'Rolling Stone.' canonical: https://time.com/4744483/harry-styles-teenage-girls-rolling-stone/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-04-18T18:59:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T09:05:28.918Z og:title: The Internet Is Freaking Out Over Harry Styles' Powerful Message About Young Women og:description: 'They're our future' og:url: https://time.com/4744483/harry-styles-teenage-girls-rolling-stone/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e1cf4eac57dd904/6988c3678fd2ee263f356a61/harry-styles-young-women-rolling-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Saturday Night Live - Season 42 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The Internet Is Freaking Out Over Harry Styles' Powerful Message About Young Women twitter:description: 'They're our future' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e1cf4eac57dd904/6988c3678fd2ee263f356a61/harry-styles-young-women-rolling-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # The Internet Is Freaking Out Over Harry Styles' Powerful Message About Young Women by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 18, 2017 6:59 PM CUT  SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Jimmy Fallon" Episode 1722 -- Pictured: Musical guest Harry Styles performs "Sign of the Times" on April 15, 2017 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images) SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE -- "Jimmy Fallon" Episode 1722 -- Pictured: Musical guest Harry Styles performs "Sign of the Times" on April 15, 2017 -- (Photo by: Will Heath/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)Will Heath—NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images by [TIME Staff](/author/time-staff/) ## TIME Staff Apr 18, 2017 6:59 PM CUT Former One Direction pop star [Harry Styles](http://time.com/4730898/harry-styles-sign-of-the-times/ "undefined") is undergoing a career metamorphosis. Since the celebrated boy band went on [indefinite hiatus](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/7-things-we-learned-about-harry-styles-debut-solo-album-w477346 "undefined"), Styles has dabbled in acting and this month releases his solo debut album. “I wanted to step up. There were songs I wanted to write and record,” the 23-year-old explained in _Rolling Stone_’s May issue where he graces the cover. But just because Styles is on his own doesn’t mean he’s necessarily going to be catering to an older demographic. In fact, he’s praising One Direction’s base of teenage girls and their taste in music. “Young girls… they’re our future,” he said. The Internet, accordingly, went berserk. “Who’s to say that[ young girls](http://motto.time.com/4618382/sheryl-sandberg-gloria-steinem-girl-power/ "undefined") who like pop music – short for popular, right? – have worse musical taste than a 30-year-old hipster guy? That’s not up to you to say,” he said. Styles went on to explain that music is in a perpetual state of transformation: “There’s no goal posts. Young girls like the Beatles. You gonna tell me they’re not serious?” He continued: “They’re our future. Our future doctors, lawyers, mothers, [presidents](http://motto.time.com/4645067/priyanka-chopra-donald-trump/ "undefined"), they kind of keep the world going.” Styles also praised young women’s honesty: “Teenage-girl fans – they don’t lie. If they like you, they’re _there._ They don’t act ‘too cool.’ They like you, and they tell you. Which is _sick._” In turn, many fans — both women and men — took to Twitter to profess their love for the [shaggy-haired singer](http://time.com/4507965/harry-style-magazine-cover-photos/ "undefined"). > [](https://twitter.com/thompsonplaid/status/854319779422892032) > [](https://twitter.com/StephanieRiou/status/854340853959204864) > [](https://twitter.com/eiffeltyler/status/854310067113525248) > [](https://twitter.com/britth174/status/854351227181834241) > [](https://twitter.com/Michaelgoins700/status/854350019549376513) > [](https://twitter.com/jessicagolds/status/854352229633056768) > [](https://twitter.com/R0SEXTYLES/status/854354042826485761) Read the rest of his _Rolling Stone_ cover story [here](http://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/harry-styles-opens-up-about-famous-flings-honest-new-lp-w476928 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4744483/harry-styles-teenage-girls-rolling-stone/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4744483/harry-styles-teenage-girls-rolling-stone/"},"headline":"The Internet Is Freaking Out Over Harry Styles' Powerful Message About Young Women","datePublished":"2017-04-18T18:59:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T09:05:28.918Z","description":"'They're our future'","url":"https://time.com/4744483/harry-styles-teenage-girls-rolling-stone/","keywords":["motto"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e1cf4eac57dd904/6988c3678fd2ee263f356a61/harry-styles-young-women-rolling-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt8e1cf4eac57dd904/6988c3678fd2ee263f356a61/harry-styles-young-women-rolling-stone.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Saturday Night Live - Season 42","caption":"Saturday Night Live - Season 42","creditText":"Will Heath—NBCU Photo Bank/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/motto/","name":"motto"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4744483/harry-styles-teenage-girls-rolling-stone/","name":"The Internet Is Freaking Out Over Harry Styles' Powerful Message About Young Women"}}]}] ```