From partaking in marathons across Tokyo and Berlin to popping up outside of the papal conclave last year, three-time Grammy-winning musician Harry Styles has embarked on plenty of side quests outside the recording studio recently. Now, the Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally singer-songwriter is explaining how he ended up in the throng outside Pope Leo XIV‘s election at the Vatican.
“I was getting a haircut in Rome,” the Eternals star told BBC Radio 1 in a new interview.
“I heard all these people start shouting, ‘Habemus papam! Habemus papam!’ People just running down the street,” Styles recalled, referencing the Latin phrase for “We have a pope.” “So the guy cutting my hair stopped cutting my hair, and he was like, ‘Habemus papam! There’s a new pope!’”
He concluded, “So then he finished up, and I was like, ‘I’m a five minutes’ walk from there,’ so I walked over there. It was wild.”
Back in May 2025, eagle-eyed fans spotted Styles — who was wearing sunglasses, a baseball cap and blue jacket — in the Vatican City crowd. An image of the British pop star quickly went viral as social media users theorized why he was in attendance. Held between May 7 and 8, the 2025 conclave took place following the death of predecessor Pope Francis’ death; Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was appointed, becoming the first supreme pontiff hailing from the United States.
Styles announced his long-awaited return to music last week, with his fourth studio album to be released March 6. The first single off of Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally, “Aperture,” dropped two days ago, in conjunction with the announcement of his 2026 tour, which will feature residencies in seven cities as well as an extended stay at Madison Square Garden in New York.