Elton John. Bon Jovi. Fleetwood Mac. Harry Styles.

This elite list of names has two things in common, being worldwide phenomenons and having received the Madison Square Garden Gold Ticket Award. This award goes to artists who have sold out a total of five shows at MSG, which is over 100,000 tickets sold at each show. 

For many, Elton John, Bob Jovi, and Fleetwood Mac might seem like obvious artists who would receive the award. They each were staple artists during their time, and may even be said to have encaptured their decade perfectly. But Harry Styles sold out five MSG concerts in only one month and is the first to receive the Gold Ticket Award in the 21st century. He now will have his name on a plaque in the event center next to those of his idols. 

For the past two months, Styles has been on tour, Love On Tour, across the United States. He is one of the first artists to return to the stage after the pandemic, and Styles has not disappointed. With a total of 40 shows, Styles has had a large number of his shows sell out, and with tens of thousands of fans showing up to each one. 

Styles is previously known for his debut in One Direction, a band that was a global sensation. One Direction had five albums and four global tours until their split in 2015. Now, six years later, Styles has become a solo worldwide phenomenon, but not only in music. Styles’ starred in the 2017 war/action film Dunkirk, and in 2022, he will starr alongside Florence Pugh in the Olivia Wilde’ psychological horror film Don’t Worry Darlin’, and with no official release date, he will start in My Policeman. Styles is also rumored to be a new villain in the Marvel Universe in the new movie The Eternals. Styles’ debut into the acting world comes as a shock to some fans but is nonetheless exciting because fans will be able to see their idol on the big screen. 

Before One Direction and before his X-Factor auditions that forever changed his life, Styles was just a boy living in Redditch, UK working in a bakery while playing and singing music with his friends. Now, he has millions of adoring fans and awards, like the MSG Gold Ticket, that prove his talent is one to remember, just like that of Elton John, Bon Jovi, Fleetwood Mac, and of many other influential artists that have come before him.