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louistummynson · 24 days ago

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🌈 Harry&Louis and rings 🌹🗡

This post by @cosmicleeds from Nov 2022 sent me on a little Harry&Louis and The Rings deep dive.

[❗️edited/corrected and extended on March 2, 2025 ]

Let's start with the first ring Louis got Harry: the dark metal/silver (what we believe to be a) Promise Ring.

"The first ring that Harry was ever spotted in was a simple dark silver band (which sometimes appeared black) worn [either] on his right middle finger or left index finger" [x < timeline by @bulletprooflarry from 2015, incl. lots of pictures].

Louis gifted it to Harry either late on Feb 12, 2012 or early on Feb 13, 2012 in the UK (the day Louis returned from a 5-day ski trip with his beard El). On that day (Feb 13), Harry exited the plane in Stockholm with the ring and wore it the entire day there.

youtube

(for app users, the ring can be clearly seen starting from 0:34)

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(for app users, the ring can be clearly seen starting from 0:45)

The next day, Feb 14, 2012 (Valentine's Day) in Paris, Harry didn't wear his ring during the long press day, but then wore it again to the steakhouse restaurant in the evening, where 1D went for dinner with their team. (click to enlarge)

I always felt that the dark metal/silver band was very personal to Harry and he might have been hesitant to wear it or maybe was "advised" not to in public (just my personal interpretations). We only saw it pop up very few times, considering how much of Harry we saw every single week; he never wore it to awards shows and only once on stage, as well as only once during an interview. ❗️In retrospect it's important to note that the dark metal/silver ring sometimes appeared almost black and sometimes silver, depending on the lighting. During the few instances in which we could see Harry wearing it, it was sometimes hard to tell if what we saw was all the same ring. But I personally think it was. In the pictures and video from Sweden and Paris, this becomes even clearer. In the video it looks silver, in the pictures it looks almost black. The plain design is the same.

"[Harry] wore the ring on stage and off on his left index finger. He was not wearing it when he arrived in LA on [April 23, 2012], which marked the beginning of the Kim Stewart stunt (Louis went to Oman with El the same week)." (source incl. more photos, timeline by @bulletprooflarry)

Sightings in total: • Feb 13, 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden (all day, before and during interview) • Feb 14, 2012 in Paris, France (in the evening, after press day was done) • April 19 - 20, 2013 in Manchester, UK (on & off stage) • April 27, 2013 at LA Airport, US (first time together with the Peace Ring) • June 13, 2013 in Miami, US (at the making of Best Song Ever music video) • Dec 2, 2015 in San Francisco, US (during the meet & greet after their Triple Ho Show radio concert - during the show and interview, he wore all 3 of his staple rings: Peace Ring, Turquoise Ring and Dancing Rainbow Bears ring, but before the Meet & Greet, he additionally slipped on the dark metal/silver ring.)

Enter the One Ring... Harry's Peace Ring:

"The dark metal/silver ring [...] was spotted [...] while stunting was at its peak, until it was replaced with the Peace Ring [...in April 2013]." - via this article from NoStuntsMagazine from July 2022 + this short timeline post from 2021 by @onlyforthekings

(It was always rumoured Louis gave the Peace Ring to Harry during a dinner at a restaurant called Rosso in Manchester, as Louis had tweeted about the restaurant, and Rosso Manchester had tweeted to Harry and Louis multiple times, but to this day it was never even confirmed they were actually at that restaurant during that month.) The Peace Ring was first spotted at Los Angeles Airport on April 27, 2013 on Harry's right index finger. He also still wore the dark metal/silver ring on his left middle finger. (left picture) The next day, on April 28, 2013 in Paris, Harry wore the Peace Ring again, on the same finger. (right picture)

The Dancing Rainbow Bears Ring Harry got it around mid 2013 and it is a ring that is tightly linked to the general theme of Gay/Queer Pride, since it closely resembles a rainbow bear design by The Grateful Dead. Harry wore that ring pretty consistently up until 2019. (image source)

The Grateful Dead rainbow bears🌈🧸 design compared to Harry's ring. It's the exact same! (x)

September 23, 2013 in Adelaide, Australia. Harry wore the Peace Ring and the Dancing Rainbow Bears Ring. (source)

Differently from the dark metal/silver ring in early 2013, Harry did wear his Peace Ring and Dancing Rainbow Bears Ring to award shows, i.e. the American Music Awards in November 2013. (source)

Back to the Peace Ring -- Harry wore that ring (and that ring only!) consistently for 8 years ('till 2021) and since then wore it on tour and special occasions, like movie premieres, as well as showing it in his Tour Highlight videos on IG. Meaning: in April 2025 he'll have worn his Peace Ring since 12 years.

For the first time since he had gotten his Peace Ring 8 years prior, at the Grammy's on March 14, 2021 Harry did not wear it, but wore a Bird Ring in its stead. Same at the Brit Awards on May 11, 2021.

4 months later, "[in] Denver on September 7, 2021, [...] he wore the Peace Ring [again]. [...] After that night, another 8 months passed. Finally on May 19, 2022 the Peace Ring was back [...] during one performance in New York, US." Harry wore the ring for 17 public appearances in 2022, including the My Policeman premiere on Sep 9, 2022. - All this comes from this awesome post with photos made by @ishipmutualrespect. Definitely check it out, especially about very recent ring sightings.

Lastly, the Peace Ring made an appearance in his IG video recap for the Love On Tour tour 2023, where he shows his rings for a few seconds.

(gif credit, made by @delicatepointofview)

The Turquoise Ring "Harry [started wearing] the Turquoise Ring in 2014 and wore it consistently for a while until, I believe, it broke. [...] it’s Louis’ birthstone (December birthstone is turquoise) and [...] turquoise is a blue/green stone (and, as you know, blue & green are Larry colours)." - via this post from 2017 by the wonderful @twopoppies "The Turquoise Ring [...] is also the birthstone for December— who do we know born in December? Turquoise is also a literal mix of blue and green.." 💙💚 (x)

The Rose Ring Another ring was added to his collection -- one that again is tied to Louis' and his relationship. The Rose Ring that Louis bought for Harry in early 2017 at Dover street market.

"The rose ring popped up [...] in London [...] in March 2017. It also has a caterpillar inside. And Louis probably definitely* bought it for him. There’s also a lot of speculation about this being connected to Harry’s rose tattoo which is, of course, connected to Louis’ dagger tattoo." - (x) *content linked to is unfortunately no longer available

Harry sadly lost his Rose Ring at an Ariana Grande concert in August 2019. There's even a video of him searching for it with a flashlight in the crowd, poor bub 😔 You can hear him saying "I've lost my ring."🥀

The Red Stone/Ruby Ring "I’ve seen talk about it being Louis’ birthstone (he’s a Capricorn and the Capricorn birthstone is a garnet) and that it’s possibly also another engagement ring." (x)

It's also important to note that during the 1D era, Harry often obviously messed and fiddled with all these rings that are tied to Louis whenever they were asked about marriage, kids, etc. And he did it very obviously so. I always thought that very meaningful and symbolistic.

This was while Louis said "Sometimes people get engaged for years…” (Harry plays with his Turquoise Ring)

Ring fam is all together 🌈 (RIP Turquoise Ring and Rose Ring, you are missed)

My personal thoughts Harry's bought and got gifted a lot more rings over time, of course; especially after 2018, and I'm sure that i.e. the Pearl Ring might also be a Louis-ring, but I haven't had the spoons to extend this post, yet. Given Louis&Harry's history of gift-giving and Harry's obvious joy of wearing/styling with rings, I can honestly imagine the majority of his collection was gifted to Harry by his Lou. The mentioned rings are the ones I personally find most significant, because they so clearly & right from the start tie to Louis' and his relationship, as well as to Harry's sense of self (Dancing Rainbow Bears Ring as a Pride ring) and he was wearing them during Louis' and his tightest closeting & stunting years. They're all such Harry Staple rings. I really loved the Rose Ring that Louis got Harry in 2017 🌹🗡, it was so significantly tied to their matching tattoos and was so Harry. Classic, striking, delicately detailed, with big personal meaning referencing their shared history, and with a little secret stashed inside of it. The sad loss of the ring in 2019 could also possibly mean Harry has become more cautious about when to wear certain rings in general (not to mention 2020 - 2022 during the pandemic, where he'd have had to constantly take off his rings to wash & sanitise his hands and every time he'd take them off, he'd risk losing a precious ring.) I could imagine that the Turquoise Ring and the Red Stone/Ruby Ring Harry got himself to remind himself of Louis, but honestly, who knows? Maybe Louis got him those, too. These two have always loved to spoil each other right from the start, haha ("Wrapped it myself. It even has a bow on it.")

And in the special case of the Peace Ring -- I never had any doubt that it's a promise/engagement/wedding ring, in whatever sense they wanted it to be. Let's not forget that same sex marriage wasn't even legal in the UK until March 2014. I once wrote "It clearly shows what a beautiful and powerful way to express themselves to the world it was for them; as individuals, but also deeply bonded and visually belonging together. A quiet, visual rebellion; [...] constantly speaking the words they couldn't say." about their matching tattoos (complete H&L tattoo timeline) and I believe with Harry's rings it was quite similar, especially during 2012 - 2015. Louis didn't wear a ring publicly, but he got his middle and ring finger tattooed instead, often fiddles with that tattoo like he'd spin a ring around it and proudly shows the tattoo off like one would with a wedding band. There's also the New Zealand receipt that he wore/wears a wedding ring in private when he's not working. (both sources from @twopoppies)

In conclusion, I have no doubt that Harry's Peace Ring stood and stands for their commitment to each other; for Harry belonging to Louis. We all know how possessive they were of each other from day 1, heavily enhanced by how much they had to constantly watch each other publicly (fake-)dating someone else; how hard they were pressured to break up and/or pretend they weren't in love with each other. Harry's expression of style and self has evolved and keeps evolving still (and from day 1, he's always had Louis' unwavering, nurturing love & support for it) and compared to the rings Harry wears nowadays, the Peace Ring's design seems quite plain, but that is also a sign of the times - and Harry's held on to it. And I find it such a beautiful fact that he's been proudly wearing it for over 10 years now. I mean, gosh, Louis and him will have their 15th anniversary in 2025! That's huge! :')

And I think the ring stands for all that -- for the essence of their relationship; that they are forever each other's ultimate peace, love, and home.

•

RESOURCES 💍 ☮ Harry's Rings tag by @daisiesonafield-blog ☮ A timeline from 2021 of Harry's rings on Twitter ☮ Peace Ring Masterpost/timeline posts by @ishipmutualrespect ☮ extensive Rings on Tour post by @ishipmutualrespect ☮ dedicated tumblr to when the Peace Ring appears: @thepeaceringtimeline ☮ Peace Ring Pride - NoStuntsMagazine from July 2022 ☮ Peace Ring tag by @daisiesonafield-blog ☮ Twitter account for the Peace Ring that is funny and cute

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louistummynson · 24 days ago

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Hey Gina, do you or any of your followers have the larry new zealand 2018 receipt (or even the gist of what it was about)? I've been looking for it everywhere but every link I found is broken or empty :(

Hi love. Yeah, it’s super weird. All the links are dead on my blog and I asked @daisiesonafield-blog and the same is happening for her. Luckily she found a screen shot. The receipt was Gabi’s whose blog has been deleted by Tumblr. Her new blog is @tellmethisisnottumblisnextfuckup but she’s barely around these days.

If you have questions about it, LMK.

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louistummynson · 24 days ago

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Louis' rocky path to his first album

..and how it might have been the reason/one of the reasons why Louis shared Always You with us the way that he did.

I don't want to saddle this amazing post about the Always You snippet and little scavenger hunt Louis took us on on Aug 24, 2017 with a too-long derail, so i'm gonna make this separate post. But please definitely read that post, too, it's so good! It'll make you shake your fist and go "LOUIS!!" (affectionately) 💙💚

This is for possible context re: him saying he was "pissed off about industry shit" and it resulting in him sharing the snippet in August 2017 and what long breath Louis had to have in order to finally get to release his debut solo album. Disclaimer: obviously there was much more going on in Louis' life during those 3 years - lots of yucky stunting that left Louis looking dead behind the eyes (esp. because on top of it he was also still grieving heavily), Harry releasing his first album, starring in his first Hollywood film, and going on worldwide tours. Louis obviously not being able to accompany him publicly to premieres or to all the shows - in combination it likely resulting in a lot more physical separation than they were ever used to, possible rough patches between them as a couple, Louis' sister unexpectedly passing away and the subsequent massive grief after already having lost his beloved Mum just 2.5 years prior, weekly appearances on TV with the giant asshole who iron-closeted him and his spider mouse ever since they were teenagers, a few public slip ups/outings from within their work circles, Harry turning into a horse on live radio despite being able to yell NO when he wanted to, Louis beaming with pride every single time he was asked about his Harry - and much more. His/their life is complex and busy and I'm only shining light on a couple of things here.

We know Louis had wanted to finally record his album in 2017 and release it in 2018. He said it again and again in his tweets and I personally don't think he was lying or stalling. (additionally, a plan for a 2018 album release + tour for 'a managed artist' was mentioned in a strategic report of the 1D company One Mode Productions Ltd., but by that point it was directed purely by 3 big players from Modest! Mgmt and that plan could've been BS from the start and could have still been an old remnant of the original plans Modest had for 1D after their hiatus; it never happened and the company was acquired by Universal Music in July 2020. Exact detail about that will be/are in my H&L companies masterpost)

In June 2017 Louis had been finally supposed to be signed with a new label under Sony, RSA...

(tweet)

...but then an exec from Epic Records campaigned to get Louis to them instead, because she had loved Just Hold On, so he signed with Epic in July 2017.

(tweet)

It needs to be said that the reason for Epic wanting to sign Louis based on that collab with Steve Aoki potentially meant they were hoping he was going to make more of that kind of music. -- which he never did, so he possibly also never wanted to in the first place (quite the recipe for disaster). And Louis was lagging behind to the public eye; he was the only member of 1D who hadn't released more than 1 single since the start of the hiatus. Zayn and Harry had already released an album by that point, Liam had had 2 pretty successful singles, and Niall had his first album set to be released in October that year. Louis being at a disadvantage wasn't his fault or within his control at all, though, with having lost his Mum 8 months prior. Syco and Sony faffing about with the record deals for him is certainly not something a grieving (and closeted & stunt-riddled) first-time solo musician needs when they just want to focus on finally releasing their first album and wanting to focus on that. During that time, it's especially essential to have a record label on board which understands and shares the same vision of the album, so concepts can be discussed, demos sent and given feedback on, timelines for PR and marketing coordinated, release dates planned, etc.

Within the same month, on July 21, 2017, Louis did release Back To You on via his own label, 78 Productions. (78 Productions Ltd. is also one of his companies) and Epic Records. Syco helped with promo in the UK. Back To You wasn't a first single of the album, though! Like with Just Hold On, Back To You's genre was vastly different from the albums Louis would later come to release, so it leads me to believe it was a fun filler project for him to work on with Bebe Rexha and Digital Farm Animals and vice versa, and to finally put out some music that year and also do a few live performances.

A month later, he tweeted this:

(tweet)

4 days later, Louis gets pissed off "about some music industry shit" and a day later, he tweets:

(tweet) - and this is when he drops the snippet of Always You right at the part with the "I went to Amsterdam without you, all I could do was think about you". part and he keeps dropping hint after hint and we figure it out 💙💚 - and ends up putting that song on his debut album.

(1 month later, Harry leaves to start his first ever solo world tour in San Francisco, USA on Sep 25, 2017)

Months pass and still no album single incoming.

On Oct 11, 2017, Louis announces his next single will be postponed, but also drops Just Like You out of the blue:

(tweet) / (tweet) - although Louis says the song is "from the album", Just Like You never ends up on his first 2 albums.

Months pass again.. the single he said would come "later this year" turns out to be Miss You, released on Dec 1, 2017. The song doesn't end up on the regular album, only appears as a bonus track on the Japanese Edition.

(On Dec 8, 2017, Harry finishes his world tour in Tokyo, Japan)

The year turns into 2018... and Louis seems to become increasingly more frustrated:

(tweet)

3 more months pass..

(Harry leaves to start his 2nd solo world tour in Basel, Switzerland on March 11, 2018)

Another month passes..

(tweet)

3 months later, and as a first step into a hopefully better direction, on July 19, 2018, it is announced that Louis has switched management and is now with Matt Vines from 7 Seven Management.

In July 2018 it's announced that Louis will appear on X-Factor as a judge that year.

(Coincidentally, Harry finishes his world tour on July 22, 2018 in New York City, USA)

Louis' X-Factor filming takes place (with breaks in between) from July 28 until Dec 2, 2018. (together with Simon Cowbell, so that must have been quite unpleasant at times, but Louis' contestant won! HA!)

Most importantly: no music at all gets released for Louis in all 2018!

(Harry leaves to start a very short tour in Singapore on Nov 23, 2018 and already finishes on Dec 7, 2018 in Tokyo, Japan)

The year turns into 2019...

And then fucking finally, in Feb 2019, it is announced that Louis has signed with Arista, who also belong to Sony. Louis can finally really start working on the album now!

On March 7, 2019, he releases Two Of Us - the first proper single of the upcoming album and a beautiful song he wrote for his Mum. But the joy doesn't last long -- sadly only 1 week later, on March 13, 2019, Louis' sister Félicité unexpectedly passes away and this completely throws life off its hinges again :( 🖤

(Harry plays only 2 shows on March 28 + 29, 2019 in New York City, USA, because he inducts beloved Stevie Nicks into the Rock 'n Roll Hall of Fame - but he doesn't tour again until October; is also in the process of finishing the recording of his 2nd album, Fine Line)

4 months later, Louis tweets this:

(tweet)

Things finally go according to (an obviously existing) plan now and it's clear that there's a proper release schedule at work. The single and music video releases are firing on all cylinders. Starting from September, there's basically a new Louis release every month. There's concepts for all music videos, as they all tell a multiple-part continuous story. Kill My Mind is released on Sep 5, 2019 We Made It follows up on Oct 24, 2019 Don't Let It Break Your Heart on Nov 23, 2019 then there's the usual Christmas break (X-mas is mostly for album releases, case in point: Harry's Fine Line's released on Dec 13, 2019) Walls, the album title single, is released on Jan 17, 2020 -- 2 weeks before the album release.

When asked what's his favorite song on the album, he replies with this:

(tweet) And on Jan 31, 2020 Louis' finally gets to release his debut solo album Walls! 🙌🏼

3 years in the active making and a frustrating 2 years later than he'd hoped for.

Because within just 3 years, Simon tried/succeeded to sign Louis to three different Sony-owned record labels! Possibly also because Louis made it clear he was not going to release his album with Syco alone, but that's just speculation on me part. (I also need to mention that Simon had already sold 50% of his shares in Syco Music to Sony in July 2015, leaving him with only 20% and he never re-acquired them, meaning since 2015 Simon was already 75% out of the door back then. Guess what he already knew would happen since the beginning of 2015, hmmmm?)

Personal thoughts: To me, that’s all absolutely wild behaviour to treat an artist like that. Someone who's made you such a fuckton of money already, too. (because let's be honest, the money's all people like Simon Cowbell and his Modest! minions care about) Simon's never had an ounce of integrity or loyalty in his body. To treat an artist, who to the public he claimed he was 'so close' to like this and to then see him struggle and still try to manipulate or bribe him into your own plans (the girlband, the management company, the DOA Triple Strings label) instead of finally letting him pursue what he so clearly wanted.. it's classic and disgusting. From my own professional experience of 15 years as an artist & tour manager, it is not surprising to me that Louis wasn’t able to establish any consistency within his career for the first 4 years. (And we probably only know half of the contractual shit Louis has had to deal with.) You'd usually need at least good management that you trust, that's ready to take the brunt of forces, but also makes sure you don't make certain mistakes (again), and that's ready to work with & for you in this. Record labels come second, especially since it's become easier nowadays to release shit indie and it's not like Louis' (and Harry's) household didn't have some funds-- but yeah, proper management is key! They're the junction where everything leads together. I have no idea what the James Grant Group thought they were doing with Louis, but it was complete weak sauce.

And although I'm also not a fan of Matt Vines and 7 Seven Management, they're definitely some kind of improvement. I understand Louis in preferring to work with people he's become close with and who he's already trusting, rather than taking the risk and choosing someone new - especially given Louis' very awful prior experiences with management. I hope Matt Vines steps up his game in the future, but from what I have learned in the past months, sadly I don't think 7 Seven Management have a good grasp on Louis' target group and fanbase and I'm not sure how much use they're making of proper market research. For an artist of Louis' caliber, they're doing too little.

Anyway, back to Syco, I think nobody is surprised that Louis had enough of it 1.5 years after Walls was released and finally ended things with Syco on July 11, 2020.

Now I want to end on saying that i'm only speculating something about his own record label / album delaying situation could've been the reason for him being pissed off. It also could've been something to do with the music industry in itself, something to do with Harry and him, something closeting- or stunt-related. I mean he did release a snippet of a song that's obviously about Harry and him. But he also released a snippet of a song that was supposed to be on his album. So yeah, the reason could've been a mix of both.

But even though we can't say that for sure, it was valid as hell that he was pissed. And he got to share the Always You snippet with us for it, such an incredibly special song; so clearly about Harry & him and he didn't give a fuck that night. And I think that's beautiful.

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louistummynson · 1 month ago

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Hi Hope! Do you have a favorite rbb/sbb anecdote?

• when RBB and SBB had a photo out with them for multiple shows until we figured out who it was (which just showed how they were keeping up with fandom discussion). the person ended up being Larry Grayson and the photo chosen had a signature that read “Love, Larry.” 15 minutes before the show started, the photo was gone

• when they were photographed with the drag queens

• the first time RBB was pictured reading a book which was k.d. Lang’s “All You Get is Me” which uncover’s k.d.’s deepest emotions, from commitment to animal rights that threatened to ruin her career, to her coming to terms with a sexuality that made her an unwitting poster girl for the lesbian and gay community.

• When they were sat with photos of Princess Diana and Prince Charles who suffered from rumors of unwanted pregnancies and secret relationships while the babygate news was still fresh

• when the bears had just started their twitter account, they began a countdown on October 20th. during this time they were absent from the stage. On the 22nd of October, that’s when 1D cancelled their first ever show

• when the bears reappear, they have literal SECURITY GUARDS protecting them and two stage lights colored blue and green spotlit on the bears (how the fuck did any of this happen i’m still in a daze)

• when a photo appeared of RBB with one of harry’s childhood friends and they were at a gay bar. coincidentally, louis was across the street from that bar the same night.

• the fucking CERTIFICATE for being “Fabulous” that was obviously written in harry’s handwriting

• the bears having their own phone number that is still active to this DAY

• when it was proven that the bears travel? with them? off tour? and they were in LA for jimmy kimmel. that night on Kimmel he did a dumb sketch trying to get a 1D potato account to have as many followers as possible which was obviously a dig at fans. later, RBB & SBB posted on their twitter a photo of them with angry eyebrows and a potato masher.

• everything about this fucking photo from the keys to the tabs to the home screen. the attention to detail??

• when the band went home for the holidays and the bears only changed their location to 🏡 when both louis and harry were in England.

• when the bears posted a photo of their dvd and book collection and one of the books had a library sticker that read it was from holmes chapel

• RBB being photographed in front of “The Bears Head Inn” when it was only 5 minutes away from holmes chapel.

• the day of the “birth” RBB posted a photo of him on the toilet reading a “Little Book of Calm”

• the day the boys have all announced they’ve left modest management and the bears appeared with 22 (on Harry’s 22nd birthday no less) and them eating cake without any clothes or sunglasses on for the first time. (remember SBB had a police hat for a while and there were photos where he was being held up by string)

#Rbb

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