Mitchell Kristopher Rowland (born July 13, 1988) is an American songwriter and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his work as a touring guitarist and for co-writing songs on all three of

Harry Styles Harry Edward Styles (born 1 February 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and actor. His musical career began in 2010 as a solo contestant on the British music competition series ''The X Factor (UK TV series), The X Factor''. Following hi ...

' solo albums. " Watermelon Sugar," a song he co-wrote with Styles, Tyler Johnson, and

Thomas Hull Thomas Hull may refer to: *Thomas Hull (actor) (1728–1808), English actor and dramatist *Thomas Hull (MP) (1528–1575/1576), English politician *Thomas Gray Hull (1926–2008), American judge *Tom Hull (American football) (born 1952), American f ...

, was nominated for and won Best Pop Solo Performance at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards in 2021. Rowland, along with Styles, Johnson, and Hull, also won the Brit Award for Song of the Year for "Watermelon Sugar" at the

2021 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2021, the 41st edition of the annual Brit Awards, was the UK's first major indoor live music event in more than a year. It was held on 11 May 2021 and celebrated the best in British and international music. Usually held in February, ...

Early life and education

Rowland grew up 15 miles outside of

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

in the city of Dublin, Ohio. He played in the jazz band at

Dublin Coffman High School Dublin Coffman High School is a public high school located in Dublin, Ohio, United States, a suburb northwest of Columbus, Ohio. The school was formerly known as Dublin High School. It is the oldest of three high schools in the Dublin City School ...

. After attending college at the University of Cincinnati, he played drums for the indie rock band Lionel the Jailbird. After leaving Lionel the Jailbird, he played in the band Total Navajo with audio engineer Ryan Nasci.

Career

Ryan Nasci was the audio engineer on tracks for the album that would become ''

'' when a session guitarist dropped out last-minute. He contacted Rowland, who he was also rooming with at the time, about whether or not he would be interested in the gig. According to Styles, Rowland had never been in a studio before. Rowland ultimately co-wrote and played guitar and percussion for nine songs on ''

,'' including Styles' debut single, " Sign of the Times," which debuted at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. After the album's release, he accompanied Styles as lead guitarist in his band for Harry Styles: Live on Tour. According to Styles' then-music director and producer

, Rowland had "never toured like hatbefore" so he was having to "learn on the road." In September 2017, Rowland, Styles, and producers Tyler Johnson and

(also known as Kid Harpoon), recorded "Watermelon Sugar" in Nashville on a day off from Live on Tour. Mitch Rowland playing She on the guitar in 2021

Following Live on Tour, Rowland co-wrote five additional songs on Styles' second album, '' Fine Line'', including the single " Golden,"''Fine Line'' (booklet).

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

. 2019. 19439705122 which eventually peaked at number 57 on the Billboard Hot 100. He also did session work for the album on electric guitar, drums,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos tha ...

, acoustic guitar,

glockenspiel The glockenspiel ( or , : bells and : set) or bells is a percussion instrument consisting of pitched aluminum or steel bars arranged in a keyboard layout. This makes the glockenspiel a type of metallophone, similar to the vibraphone. The glo ...

, and background vocals. Rowland's guitar solo in the song "She," which was (according to Styles) written while they were both under the influence of psychedelic mushrooms, has been praised by Rob Sheffield from '' Rolling Stone'' as "a cosmic guitar voyage." ''Fine Line'' was nominated for

Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to: Awards * ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia * Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK * Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US * Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA * Lati ...

at the

2020 Brit Awards Brit Awards 2020 was the 40th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards, and was marketed as "The 40th Show". It was held on 18 February 2020 at the O2 Arena in London, with Jack Whitehall as the host ...

, and for Best Pop Vocal Album at the

2021 Grammy Awards The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held in and around the Los Angeles Convention Center in Los Angeles on March 14, 2021. It recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, running from September 1, 201 ...

. "Watermelon Sugar" received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance and a Brit Award for

British Single of the Year The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

. In 2020, '' Rolling Stone'' ranked ''Fine Line'' number 491 on its list of the

500 Greatest Albums of All Time * Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time * NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...

, making it the most recent album to be included. All three songs mentioned in the ''Rolling Stone'' list as album highlights were co-written by Rowland. Harry Styles: Love on Tour was initially supposed to start April 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Styles stayed with Rowland and his wife, Sarah Jones, during parts of the pandemic. Before tour started again, Styles and Rowland co-wrote "

Music for a Sushi Restaurant "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" is a song by English singer Harry Styles, from his third studio album ''Harry's House'' (2022). It was released to hot adult contemporary radio on 3 October 2022, as the album's third single. The song was written by ...

" and "Keep Driving" together.''Harry's House'' (Media notes)

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...

/ Erskine Records. 2022. Rowland also co-wrote two songs on Cam's 2020 album ''The Otherside'': "Forgetting You" and "Happier for You". He also did session work on the album, playing drums, acoustic guitar, electric guitar, and mallets. When Love on Tour started again in 2021, Rowland played guitar. In January 2021, Rowland appeared as himself in Styles' music video for the song "

Treat People With Kindness "Treat People with Kindness" is a song by British singer and songwriter Harry Styles, recorded for his second album '' Fine Line'' (2019). The song was originally released on the album on 13 December 2019 by Columbia and Erskine Records and fe ...

." Styles' third album, '' Harry's House'', released on May 20, 2022. In addition to his writing credits on the album, Rowland also did session work playing guitar, bass, percussion, and drums. "Music for a Sushi Restaurant" debuted at number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100, marking Rowland's third top-ten hit as a songwriter.

Personal life

Rowland is married to English drummer Sarah Jones.Stated by Jones on '' The Howard Stern Show'', national radio syndication, May 18, 2022. Jones and Rowland met while rehearsing for Harry Styles: Live on Tour together.Stated by Styles on '' The Howard Stern Show'', national radio syndication, March 5, 2020. They have one child together, born in the spring of 2021. Rowland and Jones reside in London.

Discography

Filmography

References

{{Reflist American male songwriters American male guitarists Harry Styles Grammy Award winners Brit Award winners Musicians from Ohio People from Ohio 1988 births Living people