It appears that Harry Styles might be thinking about taking a permanent break from One Direction. The 22-year-old singer has officially parted ways with the band's management team Modest Management and has signed with CAA's Jeffrey Azoff. Modest Management executives Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee confirmed Styles' career move in a statement to Billboard.
"We wish Harry the very best. It has been a real pleasure working with him...Harry is a total gentleman, and we know our good friend Jeffrey Azoff will look after him. We look forward to sharing some great wine with them next time we are in L.A," the statement read.
It has long been rumored that like his former bandmate, Zayn Malik, Styles also wanted to leave One Direction to launch a solo career. In December, Styles registered four songs, "Already Home," "Coco," "Endlessly" and "5378 Miles" with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).
A source told The Sun that Styles and his new team plan to launch his solo career "by around this time next year so the work is starting now." Another source told the British tabloid that "he wants to completely disassociate with [One Direction] and that includes any professional connection."
If the rumors are true, Style would also have to part ways with Simon Cowell's record label, Syco Music.
Styles and his One Direction bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan and Liam Payne, are currently enjoying an extended hiatus but have continuously insisted that they will reunite after their break. The boy band decided "not to renew their recording contract" after wrapping its "On the Road Again" tour last October.
"We're not breaking up. We're literally taking time out to see our friends and see our family and reflect on what we've done over the last few years," Horan told Entertainment Tonight. Tomlinson, who welcomed a son earlier this month, added, "We fully intend to come back. We absolutely love this. We had a little sit down before and we decided that we wanted a break."
"We've had a very intense couple of years so we're just going to have a little bit of breathing time and spend that with our families. I don't think anyone could keep this pace up forever so I think it's the most healthy and constructive thing for all of us," he continued.
