Harry Styles Reunites With 78-Year-Old Canadian “Grammy Granny” at Concert in England

Harry Styles superfan — and Sudbury, Ont. native — Reina Lafantaisie, 78, made headlines in February when she attended the Grammys to champion the singer in the battle for Album of the Year. Of course, she had no idea that she’d end up on stage literally announcing his win.  But it happened, and Styles immediately embraced her when he reached the stage before even accepting the coveted award.

“When you look into his eyes, he is just full of kindness,” Lafantaisie told the Toronto Star afterward. “He hugged me so hard and for so long and it made me wonder if he was thinking of his grandmother in that moment.”

That, however, wasn’t the end of the friendship between the two. On Tuesday, Lafantaisie posted on Instagram that she attended Styles’ concert in Coventry, England, and got to go backstage to reunite with the 29-year-old singer.  

 

 

In her Instagram post, Lafantaisie thanked the Styles fans — dubbed “Harries” — for the kindness they showed her at the concert, and then noted that she was invited backstage and greeted by the singer as he crooned the song “Reunited” by Peaches and Herb. She posted a video of the exchange on her Instagram stories.

“He is the most caring humble and down to earth person and such a great sense of humour. His smile and joie de vivre lit up the room!” Lafantaisie added. “I could go on and on forever but simply put he is so kind. Let’s all continue to share kindness wherever we go and be proud to be his fans. Getting ready for our next concert this evening. My cup is spilling over.”

 

A History of Harry Styles Fanboying Classic Artists, From Stanley Tucci to Shania Twain, Stevie Nicks and Bryan Adams

 

Stanley Tucci, 62

The bromance between pop superstar Harry Styles, 29, and actor-foodie-social media mixologist Stanley Tucci, 62, went viral following the BRIT Awards in February, when Tucci presented Styles with the Album of the Year honour for his disc Harry’s House. 

“There’s literally no one I love more in the world than Stanley Tucci, so this means so much,” Styles declared in his speech, before passing the mic to his producers. As they spoke, however, Styles stood behind them, hugging and laughing with Tucci. 

Tucci subsequently paid tribute to Styles on Instagram, writing, “I listen to this man’s music everyday whilst cooking. It was a great honor [sic] to present Artist of the Year at the Brit Awards to the talented and kind soul that is my friend Harry Styles.”

Of course, the exchanges lit up social media. Elle wrote that, “their sweet exchange promptly got hearts racing the world over,” while GQ paid homage to, “the modern masculinity of Harry Styles and Stanley Tucci’s Brits bromance” and “two emotionally open internet sex symbols who love cooking and pilates.”

And while the May-December bromance, if you will, delighted fans, it pointed to a trend in Styles life: his love and reverence for artists of older generations — including many who happen to be Canadian. 

 

Shania Twain, 57

Harry Styles has made no secret of his admiration for the Canadian Country Queen, and he spotlighted it in a big way during his set at Coachella last April when he invited Twain on stage to perform some of her biggest hits with him.

“In the car with my mother as a child, this lady taught me to sing,” Styles said of Twain during the set. The pair sang Twain’s hit tunes “Man! I Feel Like A Woman,” and  “Still the One.”

In a later interview on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Twain noted that she and Styles became friends before he’d reached his superstar status. She had attended one of his concerts in New York and went backstage to meet him, and the pair exchanged phone numbers. Styles then texted her a few weeks later, asking if she would call his mom to wish her a happy birthday — which she did — and Twain says they’ve been text (and real-life) friends ever since. 

 

Joni Mitchell, 79 

The third Canadian on our list, Joni Mitchell has proven an indelible influence on Styles’ music. To start, his album Harry’s House echoes the name of one of the Canadian legend’s songs — which Mitchell herself publicly acknowledged.

But Styles also noted in a 2019 Rolling Stone interview that there was a time he’d become obsessed with Mitchell’s classic Blue album.

“I was in a big Joni hole,” he said, adding that he fixated on the dulcimer that Mitchell played on the album. “So I tracked down the lady who built Joni’s dulcimers in the ’60s. She still lives around here … I went to her house and she gave me a little lesson — we sat around and played dulcimers.” 

Styles also covered the Mitchell classic “Big Yellow Taxi” on the BBC’s Radio 2 breakfast show in 2020 (see video above) and has attended jam sessions at Mitchell’s house with other notable guests like singer Brandi Carlile and comedian Ellen DeGeneres. 

 

 

Stevie Nicks, 74, and Fleetwood Mac

The friendship between Nicks and Styles reportedly dates back to 2015, when he brought the rock legend a birthday cake backstage at a Fleetwood Mac concert. The pair hit it off, and Styles and Nicks shared the stage two years later at the legendary Los Angeles club the Troubadour. 

“I’m pretty sure that this was going to be up there with one of the best nights of my life,” Styles reportedly said at one point during the Troubadour show. “If there was any doubt, I’m pretty sure I’d like to confirm, in my entire life, I never thought I’d be able to say this: please welcome to the stage, Stevie Nicks.” 

Styles has since performed with Fleetwood Mac and covered the band’s tunes, and in the ensuing years Nicks and Styles have had nothing but kind words and tributes for each other. But it was Styles inducting Nicks into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2019 that really stood out in the eyes of fans.

At the ceremony, the pair duetted on “Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around,” with Styles standing in for the late Tom Petty (which you can see in the video below).

Meanwhile, when Styles launched his beauty line, Pleasing, last year, he tapped then-74-year-old Mick Fleetwood as its face. 

“He’s a magical man,” Styles told Vogue of his choice of Fleetwood, who he actually met prior to meeting Nicks. “Mick is someone who brings me — and countless others — great joy. I felt there couldn’t be a better embodiment of Pleasing, or a person who could so naturally capture the wizardry that we love.”

 

Bryan Adams, 63

The fourth Canadian on our list, Bryan Adams also played a role in Styles’ early development as a singer. Styles has noted that the first time he ever sang professionally, he performed a cover of the Canadian rocker’s classic “Summer of ’69.”  At a concert during his 2022 record-breaking 15-night residency at Madison Square Gardens, Styles mentioned that he was honoured that Bryan Adams was in the house. “I would just like to say, thank you, Bryan. You changed my life. Thank you very much.”

 

 

And way back in his One Direction days, Styles and co., performed the same tune on an episode of The X Factor.

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