Zayn Malik Feared Harry Styles Debut Single Would Steal His Shine: One Direction Stars Feuding?

Zayn Malik is relieved to know that Harry Styles’ debut single “Sign of the Times” sounds nothing like the music the 24-year-old released last year, sources allege.

Reports had claimed that Zayn Malik was fearful of Harry’s plans to take on a solo career of his own, having reportedly inked a $80 million deal with Columbia, Daily Mail reports, which will see the 23-year-old release a whopping three albums under the record label.

The deal was notably the biggest out of all the members in One Direction who had decided to go solo, including Zayn Malik, who supposedly became under the impression that Columbia would invest more money into making Harry an even bigger star than him.

That, and the initial fear that Styles’ music would sound similar to Zayn Malik’s had really taken a toll on the “Pillowtalk” singer — but now that he’s heard Harry’s debut single, he realizes that there was absolutely nothing to worry about.

In fact, according to Hollywood Life, Zayn Malik is pleasantly surprised by how different his former band member sounds from the music the duo were so known to sing as One Direction. Gone are the teenage heartthrob-inspired lyrics, that’s evidently clear.

“Zayn has heard Harry’s new song and liked it, he liked its 80’s vibe,” a source explains. “He can now breathe a sigh of relief because it doesn’t sound anything like his music. [Zayn Malik] doesn’t feel threatened in the slightest by Harry’s new music. Of course, he hasn’t listened to the whole album but is pretty confident that their sounds are not in competition with each other.”

Last year, it was famously revealed that Harry Styles and Zayn Malik had not been on speaking terms after the “BeFour” star abruptly decided to quit One Direction in the midst of their world tour, leaving the rest of the group in absolute shock and devastation.

Of course, it was only worse for them to then find out weeks later that Zayn Malik had signed a solo deal with RCA Records, adding even further insult to injury. Harry was said to have taken the news the hardest, having stayed away from even trying to mend things with Malik, while the rest of the group has been more open to the idea of sharing a friendship with Zayn again.

Zayn Malik even hinted in interviews throughout 2016 that he was still close with some of the members in One Direction, seemingly hinting that his friendship with Harry had more or less fizzled out.

Styles had also chosen not to congratulate Zayn Malik on the release of his debut album, Mind of Mine, following its release in March 2016. It was at that particular time that Harry began holding business meetings with labels he could potentially jumpstart his solo career with, which eventually led him to Columbia.

It’s being alleged that Zayn Malik is planning to release his sophomore album later this year, and now that fans are well aware of the fact that Harry is dropping his debut record in just a few months time, some are under the impression that this could potentially turn into a competition between the two rivals.

Fans are divided between Zayn Malik and Harry Styles, with some saying that the latter will have bigger first week sales due to him supposedly holding a bigger fanbase than Zayn, whose debut album has yet to reach sales of one million copies, granting it a platinum plaque — an accolade fans believe Harry will reach in no time.

Liam Payne, Niall Horan, and Louis Tomlinson are also said to be working on their solo projects, with further information said to follow in the next couple of months.

Is there tension between Zayn Malik and Harry as their albums are gearing up to hit stores later this year?

[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]