Paramore is an American
rock band from
Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist
Hayley Williams, bassist
Jeremy Davis, and guitarist
Taylor York. The group released its debut album
All We Know Is Falling in 2005, and its second album
Riot! in 2007, which was certified
Platinum in the US and Ireland and Gold in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the UK.
Brand New Eyes,
Paramore's third album, was released in 2009 and is the band's highest
charting album to date, going platinum in Ireland and the UK, and gold
in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
Formation from 2002 up to 2004
In 2002, at age 13, vocalist
Hayley Williams moved from her hometown
Meridian, Mississippi to
Franklin, Tennessee, where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro while she was attending a private school.
[2][3] Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with
Brett Manning. Prior to forming Paramore, Williams and bassist Jeremy Davis, along with friend Kimee Read, took part in a
funk cover band called The Factory, while Josh and Zac Farro had practiced together after school.
The other members of what was soon to be Paramore had been "edgy about
the whole female thing" of having Williams as vocalist, but, because
they were really good friends, she started writing for them.
Williams said of the guys when she first met them, "They were the first
people I met who were as passionate about music as I was." The band was officially formed by
Josh Farro (
lead guitar/
backing vocals),
Zac Farro (
drums), Jeremy Davis (
bass guitar) and Hayley Williams (
lead vocals) in 2004 with the later addition of Williams' neighbor Jason Bynum (
rhythm guitar).
When Davis showed up, he was stunned to find out the drummer was only
twelve years old. He admitted "I had very, very, very, little faith in
everyone in the band because of their age. I remember thinking, 'This is
not going to work because this kid is way too young,' but that first
day of practice was amazing. I knew we were on to something." According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players.
Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone "
paramour" ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the
Paramore spelling.
Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003.
She had been introduced to Atlantic A&R Tom Storms through Kent
Marcus and Jim Zumwalt, lawyers of managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard
Williams, and then eventually signed to Atlantic by
Jason Flom.
Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed
her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic. The
original plan of the label was to turn her into a pop singer, but
Williams resisted, saying that she wanted to play alternative rock music
and wanted a band behind her. In an interview with
HitQuarters
the band's A&R at Atlantic, Steve Robertson, said, "She wanted to
make sure that we didn't look at her as some straight to Top 40 pop
princess. She wanted to make sure that she and her band got the chance
to show what they can do as a rock band writing their own songs."
Label president Julie Greenwald and the label staff decided to go with
her wishes. The original management team for the band was Dave
Steunebrink,
Creed manager
Jeff Hanson, and Hanson's assistant Mark Mercado.
Paramore were originally supposed to come out on Atlantic Records but
the label's marketing department decided it would be better for the
image of the band to not have them attached to a major label. They
instead released their music through a cooler niche label in
Fueled by Ramen. Head of Warner Music Group,
Lyor Cohen
had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner
with and it was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for
Paramore.
According to Robertson, when the band were presented to Fueled by
Ramen's CEO John Janick, "he got the vision of the band immediately." Janick went to a
Taste of Chaos performance in
Orlando, Florida
to see the band perform live. In April 2005, after a smaller private
performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to Atlantic Records and
Fueled By Ramen.
The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was
later used on their debut album. In 2004, they were a featured band in
Purple Door. At this time, they were touring the southeast, usually
being driven by Williams' parents. She commented that "Back then, I
guess we were all thinking, after school we'll go to the house and
practice. It was what we loved to do for fun, and still do! I don't
think any of us really knew this would turn out to be what it's become."
2005–2006
All We Know Is Falling
Paramore traveled back to Orlando, Florida, but shortly after
arriving, Jeremy Davis left the band, citing personal reasons. The
remaining four members of Paramore continued with the album, writing "
All We Know" about his departure, and later deciding to base
All We Know Is Falling around the concept. The album artwork also reflected Paramore's grief as Hayley Williams explains, "The couch on the cover of
All We Know is Falling with no one there and the shadow walking away; it's all about Jeremy leaving us and us feeling like there's an empty space." Recording took three weeks, and promotional material for the album only featured the four remaining members.
Before touring, the band added John Hembree (
bass guitar) to their line up to replace Jeremy Davis. During that summer, Paramore was featured on the Shira Girl stage of the 2005 Warped Tour. After being asked by the band, Jeremy Davis returned to Paramore after five months apart, replacing Hembree.
All We Know Is Falling was released on July 24, 2005, and reached No. 30 on the Billboard's Heatseekers Chart. Paramore released "
Pressure" as its first single, with a video directed by
Shane Drake,
but the song had failed to place in the charts. The video featured the
band performing in a warehouse, eventually getting sprayed with water
sprinklers as the storyline of a conflicted couple occurs. In July, "
Emergency" was released as the second single, the video again reuniting the band with director Shane Drake and featuring Hunter Lamb (
rhythm guitar), who replaced Jason Bynum.
The video for "Emergency" showcased Paramore in another performance,
this time fixing the members bloody costumes. The third single, "All We
Know", was released with limited airtime, with the video consisting of a
collection of live performances and backstage footage.
In January 2006, the band took part in the Winter Go West tour where they played alongside Seattle bands
Amber Pacific and
The Lashes. In February, Hayley Williams was featured on "Keep Dreaming Upside Down" by
October Fall. In spring of 2006, Paramore was an opening act on headlining tours for both
Bayside and soon afterwards,
The Rocket Summer. They toured the United Kingdom from October 5 to October 15, 2006, where they ended in London at The
Mean Fiddler. The band then covered
Foo Fighters' "
My Hero" for the
Sound of Superman soundtrack which was released on June 26, 2006.
During the summer of 2006, Paramore played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the
Volcom and
Hurley
Stages, and their first night on the Main Stage was at a date in their
hometown of Nashville. Paramore's first United States headlining tour
began on August 2, 2006 to a sold-out audience with support from
This Providence,
Cute Is What We Aim For, and
Hit the Lights
with the final show in Nashville. That year they were voted "Best New
Band", and Hayley Williams was voted as No. 2 "Sexiest Female", by
readers of the British magazine
Kerrang!.
In 2007, Hunter Lamb left the group to get married, and Paramore continued onward as a quartet. Paramore was then named by British magazine
NME as one of ten bands to watch out for in their "New Noise 2007" feature. In January, the band played an acoustic set for the grand opening of a Warped Tour exhibit at the
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the dress Hayley Williams wore in the video for "Emergency" was also put on display in the exhibit.
Paramore was featured in
Kerrang! magazine once more, however,
Hayley Williams believed the article was an untrue portrayal of the
band, particularly because it focused on her as the main component.
Afterwards, Williams addressed the issue in the band's
LiveJournal,
with a post saying, "we could’ve done without a cover piece. sorry, if
it offends anyone at Kerrang! but i don’t think there was one bit of
truth in that article." In April, Hayley Williams' vocals were featured in "Then Came To Kill" by
The Chariot. They headlined a tour in early 2007 with
This Providence,
The Almost and Love Arcade.
2007 - 2008
Riot! and other projects
Paramore began recording their second album,
Riot!
in January 2007, ending production in March without rhythm guitarist
Hunter Lamb (who left the band early in 2007 after getting married); without Lamb, lead guitarist Josh Farro was required to play both guitar parts on the album.
Taylor York, who had been in a band with the Farro brothers before the
two met Hayley Williams, joined as a replacement for Lamb. After being courted by producers Neal Avron and
Howard Benson, Paramore opted to record
Riot! with
New Jersey producer David Bendeth (
Your Vegas,
Breaking Benjamin), releasing the album on June 12, 2007.
Riot! entered the Billboard 200 at number 20, the UK charts at number 24, and sold 44,000 its first week in the United States.
The name
Riot! had been chosen because it meant "a sudden outburst of uncontrolled emotion", and it was a word that "summed it all up". The first single from the album, released June 21, 2007, "
Misery Business", is, according to Williams, "more honest than anything I've ever written, and the guys matched that emotion musically."
Summer of 2007 saw Paramore participating on their third Warped Tour and posting journals of their experiences on
yourhereblog for MTV. In June they were declared by
Rolling Stone as "Ones to Watch". Paramore made their live television debut on Fuse Networks daily show,
The Sauce. The second single from
Riot!, "
Hallelujah",
was released on July 30, 2007, and is only available online and on UK
television. The video, much like "All We Know", features backstage
footage and live performances.
In August 2007, Paramore had been featured in television spots on
MTV,
performing acoustic versions of their songs or acting in short
accompaniments to MTV program commercials. As "MTV Artists of the Week",
the band filmed the faux camping themed spots in
Queens, New York, all written and directed by Evan Silver and Gina Fortunato. MTV.com also has a collection of
short videos with the band to promote
Riot! as well. For weeks in August 2007, the "Misery Business" video was the number one streamed video at
MTV.com. On October 8, Paramore played "Misery Business" live on
Late Night with Conan O'Brien, a booking made possible due to the friendship struck between the band and
Max Weinberg during the 2007 Warped Tour. In August, Paramore participated in
New Found Glory's music video for their cover of
Sixpence None the Richer's song "
Kiss Me".
On October 11, 2007, the music video for "
Crushcrushcrush" debuted on the United States television as the next single from
Riot!.
The video for "Crushcrushcrush" featured the band playing a performance
in a barren desert, being spied upon, and later destroying their
equipment. The single was released in the United States on November 19
and made available in the United Kingdom on November 12, 2007. Hayley Williams recorded guest vocals for the tracks "The Church Channel" and "Plea" for the
Say Anything concept album
In Defense of the Genre released on October 23, 2007. The group performed
live, acoustic style in
Boston on November 29, 2007 for FNX radio. On December 31, 2007, Paramore performed on the
MTV New Year's Eve program which ran from 11:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
Paramore was featured on the cover of February 2008 issue of
Alternative Press magazine and voted "Best Band Of 2007" by the readers. The band was nominated for "
Best New Artist" at the
50th Annual Grammy Awards presented on February 10, 2008 but lost to
Amy Winehouse. Early 2008 saw Paramore touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album
Riot!, along with
New Found Glory,
Kids in Glass Houses and Conditions. In early February 2008, the band began a tour in Europe,
however on February 21, 2008, the band announced that they had canceled
six shows due to personal issues. Williams wrote on the band's web site
that "the break will give that band 'a chance to get away and work out
our personal issues'". MTV.com reported that fans of Paramore were
speculating about the future of the band and reported rumors of trouble
had begun earlier in the month when Josh Farro expressed his anger
against the media's focus on Hayley Williams. The band, however, returned to their hometown to record the music video for the fourth single "
That's What You Get", which was then released on March 24, 2008.
On MTV's
TRL,
May 7, 2008, lead singer Hayley Williams said that the band was working
on a new album and that it would hopefully be released by next summer.
Hayley Williams says she and the band have been practicing the new songs
during the sound checks on tour.
[citation needed] In an
Alternative Press cover story, Zac Farro speculated on a forthcoming album, saying that it would sound like bands
Mew,
Thrice, and
Arcade Fire.
On May 19, 2008, Paramore announced on their website that they will
be going on tour again, the tour being named "The Final Riot!", starting
July 25 and ending September 1. On this tour, the band performed part
of
Leonard Cohen's "
Hallelujah". On September 2, 2008, Paramore released a collaboration hoodie along with
Hurley Clothing based on the album
Riot!. All proceeds went to the Love146 foundation.
Paramore's song "
Decode" was the lead single for the novel-based
Twilight film. Another song called "I Caught Myself" is also featured on the film's soundtrack. "Decode" was released on October 1, 2008 on the Paramore Fan Club site as well as
Stephenie Meyer's website. The band began shooting the video October 13 and it premiered on November 3.
Hot Topic hosted listening parties for the soundtrack on October 24, 2008, and the album was released on November 4, 2008.
Borders released an exclusive version of the soundtrack that features an acoustic version of "Decode."
The band released a live album named
The Final Riot! on November 25, 2008. The album includes a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in
Chicago, as well as a behind the scenes documentary. As of the 9 of April 2009,
The Final Riot! is certified gold in the United States.
2009–2010
Brand New Eyes and touring
In January 2009, Josh Farro spoke about the band's upcoming third studio album. Talking to
Kerrang!,
Farro said: "We're gonna try to [record] it in Nashville. I think
writing the album there will inspire us, and then if we record there too
it'll be a lot easier since we can sleep in our beds at night rather
than in hotels like the other 300 days out of the year! We're not sure
who's going to produce the record yet. We did "Decode" with [producer]
Rob Cavallo,
which was a good experience, but we're looking around and don't want to
make any decisions until we have a lot of songs and we know what we're
looking for. We really enjoy our live sound and we want a producer who
can really capture that."
Paramore wrote and completed their newest record
Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single from the album was
"Ignorance"
and was released July 7, 2009. The official music video for "Ignorance"
aired on all MTV platforms, networks, and websites on August 13, 2009.
Paramore, along with
Paper Route and
The Swellers, toured in support of
Brand New Eyes in the fall of 2009. Some tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with
laryngitis. "
Brick By Boring Brick", "
The Only Exception", "
Careful" and "
Playing God" followed as the album's next singles. To promote the album, the band recorded a performance for
MTV Unplugged.
Paramore then played a sold out 15-date European tour with
You Me At Six,
Paper Route and Now Now Every Children. Their stadium tour culminated at London's
Wembley Arena, to an audience of 12,500.The band performed in 2010 in the
Australian Soundwave Festival along with bands such as
Faith No More,
Placebo,
You Me at Six,
All Time Low,
Jimmy Eat World and
Taking Back Sunday.
Shortly before the tour, lead guitarist Josh Farro announced via the
band's LiveJournal that he is engaged and stayed behind to plan his
wedding. Justin York, brother of Taylor York, filled in for him on the
tour. The band, with Farro returned, embarked on a spring tour of the U.S. in late April. Paramore supported
Green Day on selected dates of their Stadium tour, in Dublin and Paris.
In April 2010, the band announced that they would be headlining the 2010
Honda Civic Tour. The tour began on July 23 in Raleigh, NC and closed on September 19 in Anaheim, CA. After a short United Kingdom tour in November 2010,
the band announced, on December 2, 2010, the official dates for a South
American tour to take place during February and March 2011.
During an interview with MTV at the Z100 Jingle Ball on December 11,
2010, Hayley and Taylor announced that the band would be taking a break
after their South American Tour in 2011 to write for their forthcoming
fourth studio album.
Josh and Zac Farro's departure
On December 18, 2010 a message from Hayley, Jeremy, and Taylor was
released through Paramore.net stating that Josh and Zac were leaving the
band.
In the message they stated, "A couple of months ago, Josh and Zac let
us know they would be leaving the band after our show in Orlando last
Sunday. None of us were really shocked. For the last year it hasn't
seemed as if they wanted to be around anymore. We want Josh and Zac to
do something that makes them happy and if that isn't here with us, then
we support them finding happiness elsewhere. But we never for a second
thought about leaving any of this behind." The post also stated that the
remaining members had no intention of disbanding. They also added "As
we look back, and now as we look with excitement to the future, in all
of this what truly matters are the good times. The pictures of us with
our arms around each other, the long van rides, your faces while you
sing along as we play. Thank you for getting us right here to this very
moment. We look forward to our best times. And we hope you will go there
with us." The band also confirmed the scheduled South American tour is still going to happen.
Josh Farro wrote a personal response on the departure on his
Blogger
account, entirely different from the band's response, claiming that the
band was "a manufactured product of a major-label." He further accused
Hayley Williams of being manipulated by her management, treating the
rest of the group as her solo project, and claimed she was the only
member of the band who was signed to Atlantic Records, while her
bandmates were simply "riding on the coattails of her dream".
On December 30, 2010,
MTV News interviewed Williams, York and Davis in
Franklin, Tennessee regarding their reactions to Farro's response. The interview aired on MTV.com on January 7, 2011 as
Paramore: The Last Word.
While the band confirmed many of Farro's statements, notably that
Williams was indeed the only member of the band actually signed to
Atlantic, they said they felt the statement was irrelevant, adding that
they had addressed many of the claims made already throughout the course
of their career.
Singles Club and Paramore
On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams said
that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they would
release new music in 2011, although they had not confirmed if they would
record a full album for release last year, or just release some songs.
The singer also admitted that Paramore's style was likely to change with
the new lineup, but clarified that the band would still retain their
signature sound.
On February 2, 2011, Josh Farro confirmed the name of his new band,
Novel American. Zac has also confirmed his new band,
Half Noise.
On February 17, 2011, Hayley Williams confirmed that the band would
hit the studio upon returning from their South American tour, to record a
batch of songs to be released over the summer, prior to a new
full-length album that might follow in 2012. One of the new songs to be
released include "In the Mourning", which Williams debuted on her
Tumblr page.
On March 21, 2011, Paramore stated on their various social networking
accounts that they were entering a studio in Los Angeles with producer
Rob Cavallo to record their next album.
On June 9, 2011, Hayley Williams announced that the band are starting
to write their fourth album, which they hope to start recording at the
end of the year, hoping for a release in early 2012.
On September 5, 2011, Hayley Williams has confirmed that the band is
getting ready to release another new song, entitled "Renegade", which
was recorded in the same sessions as the band's latest single "
Monster", that took place last March with producer
Rob Cavallo. The song is the first of three songs that are left to be released from these sessions, except "Monster".
On October 11, 2011, Paramore announced that they would release three
new singles over the next three months until the end of 2011, with a
single per month. The band set up the "Singles Club" on their website
which gave fans the chance to purchase the new singles when they're
released, as they're released exclusively through the Singles Club and
will not be sold on
iTunes
or in stores. A song called "Renegade", premiered the day of the
announcement, with "Hello Cold World" to follow on November 7 and "In
the Mourning" on December 5.
[
On April 18, 2012, Hayley communicated on the band's site that the producer for their new album will be
Justin Meldal-Johnsen. On July 2, 2012, it was announced on the band's Twitter that former
Nine Inch Nails and
Lostprophets and current
Angels & Airwaves drummer
Ilan Rubin will be recording drums for the band's upcoming fourth studio album. On December 6, 2012, Paramore announced that the
new album is self-titled and will be released on April 9th, 2013, the first single will be called "Now". No other detail was told.
Musical style and influences
Paramore's music has generally been regarded as "
emo" and "
pop punk".
Joshua Martin had written after an interview with Hayley Williams, "The
band isn't just a short pop-punk girl with red hair and a spunky
attitude. Their music is like them, it's aged differently. It's sped up,
and slowed down. It's emo without being whiny, or bratty. Almost a very
literal anti-
Avril Lavigne."
Alternative Press magazine had commented that the band was "young sounding", while consistently being "honest." Paramore's first album
All We Know is Falling had an arguably more "formulaic pop-punk" sound that was "delivered particularly well" and the combination of the two had created a "refined rock infused pop/punk album." The band's second release,
Riot! was said to explore a 'diverse range of styles," however, not straying far from "their signature sound."
Alternative Press and various other reviewers have noted that the band's stage performances have helped boost them to larger fame.
Alternative Press states that Williams "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either." Singer-songwriter
John Mayer
had praised Williams' voice in a blog in October 2007, calling her "The
great orange hope"; "orange" in reference to her hair color. Due to the female fronted aspect of the band, Paramore has gained comparisons to
Kelly Clarkson and the aforementioned Avril Lavigne, to which one reviewer said was "sorely unfounded."
Reviewer Jonathan Bradley noted that "Paramore attacks its music with
infectious enthusiasm." However, he also explained that "there isn't a
whole lot of difference between
Riot! and the songs from Kelly Clarkson or Avril Lavigne." A reviewer at
NME had likened Paramore's sound to that of "
No Doubt (stripped of all the
ska bollocks)" and "Kelly Clarkson's wildest dreams."
Hayley Williams has gone on to comment about the female aspect of the
band saying that Paramore is not "this girl-fronted band" and it makes
"music for people to enjoy music, not so people can talk about my
sexuality."
Paramore has expressed appreciation for
Fall Out Boy,
Hanson[disambiguation needed],
Panic! at the Disco,
Blink-182,
Death Cab for Cutie,
Jimmy Eat World,
mewithoutYou, and
Sunny Day Real Estate, as well as
Thrice and
New Found Glory; Hayley Williams citing her personal influences as
Robert Smith of
The Cure and
Etta James. Williams also explained that bands such as
U2, "who are massive, and do whatever they want, write whatever they want and they stand for something,"
Jimmy Eat World, "who I don’t think ever disappoint their fans," and
No Doubt, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which Paramore would like to take their career. In 2012 Hayley contributed vocals to
mewithoutYou's fifth studio album
Ten Stories.
The band members are
Christians
and in an interview with the BBC, Josh Farro stated "Our faith is very
important to us. It's obviously going to come out in our music because
if someone believes something, then their world view is going to come
out in anything they do. But we're not out here to preach to kids, we're
out here because we love music."
