This week marked Harry Styles’ final show at New York’s Madison Square Garden; on Wednesday 21st September 2022, the 28-year-old singer took to the stage to play his fifteenth and last show at the iconic venue. Styles’ milestone series of performances were part of his career-defining Love On Tour; the concert series began its run on 20th August 2022, with all shows selling out. Throughout the singer’s residency at the venue, he was joined by fellow English artist Blood Orange aka Dev Hynes, formerly known as Lightspeed Champion. The lucky audience members at Styles’ final show were treated to a duet between Styles and Hynes; the duo shared the stage for a rendition of “Matilda“.
Equipped with a tagline which references the singer’s chart-topping album, Madison Square Garden is Harry’s House, the concert’s run has become historic due to its length. To mark Styles’ legendary residence at Madison Square Garden, the former One Direction band member was honoured with a banner marked with his name. The personalised banner was raised at the New York venue to commemorate his record and TV personality Gayle King presented Styles with the special reward.
Speaking on stage, King said, “We have a surprise for you, Harry! We’re all at Harry’s House right now. Fifteenth consecutive night, sold out show. “No artist has ever done that before. Twenty-thousand people, Harry, on their feet. We think you are walking joy, walking happiness … and we just want to say to you Harry, we don’t want to say goodnight to you, Harry Styles!“
Reacting to the unveiling of his banner and King’s comments, Styles could be seen tearing up and addressed the audience saying, “I just want to say from the bottom of my heart to each and every single one of you who came tonight… That’s insane, To all of you who bought a ticket, thank you so, so much for your support. Things like this don’t happen to people like me very often… and I just want to thank you all. You’ve changed my life each and every single one of you thank you so, so much. Any time when you come to Madison Square Garden and you see that, you remember it’s because of you. That is ours.“
Harry watching the MSG 15 banner go up at @TheGarden pic.twitter.com/8vcobdlPyD
— HSD Love On Tour (@hsdlot) September 22, 2022
With the unveling of his banner at Madison Square Gardens, Styles has joined a very small club; there are only two other artists who have received such an honour. The first to be bestowed their own banner was Billy Joel, the “Piano Man” singer has held a close relationship with New York’s most famous venue throughout his career. The American singer and pianist’s association with Madison Square Gardens is evident in his 129 shows; Joel was even given a second banner when he concluded his 83-show residency.
The second act to be given a banner was progressive funk rockers Phish; the American group’s banner was erected after they finished their run of shows. The 2017 concert series consisted of thirteen gigs and became famous for the set lists; those in attendance confirmed that the band did not repeat any songs across all thirteen gigs.
