Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band 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 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.
History
2002–2004: Formation
In 2002, at age 13, vocalist Hayley Williams moved from her hometown Meridian, Missisipi to Franklin, Tennessee where she met brothers Josh Farro and Zac Farro while she was attending a private school. 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 Frro (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 ason 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
Main article:
All We Know Is FallingParamore 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 (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.
[14] All We Know Is Falling was released on July 24, 2005, and reached #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 #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
Main article: Riot!
Lead vocalist Hayley Williams (left) and rhythm guitarist Taylor York (right) perform at the Vans Warped Tour in Vancouver, July 2007
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 at
The Social, Orlando, Florida on April 23, 2007.
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.
The band toured with Jimmy Eat World in the United States in April and May 2008. The band headlined the Give It A Name festival in the United Kingdom on May 10 and May 11, 2008. Also the band performed on the In New Music We Trust Stage at Radio 1's One Big Weekend in Mote Park
, Kent on May 10, 2008. Paramore played their first Ireland show at the RDS in Dublin on June 2, 2008, followed by the 2008 Vans Warped Tour
from July 1–6.
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. 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 Stephanie 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
Main article: Brand New Eyes
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 Cavalo, 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 in the tour Brand New Eyes World Tour at the Warfield
in US
On January 21, 2009, it was announced that Paramore will be the special guest with Bedouin Soundclash, The Sounds and Janelle Monae at the No Doubt Summer Tour 2009
, starting in May 2009 in outdoor amphitheaters and arenas across the US and Canada.
Paramore wrote and completed their newest record
Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single off of 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 larynights. "Brick by Boring Brick", "The Only Exeption", "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
Josh Farro in Vancouver in he Summer Tour 2009
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.
2011–present: Paramore without the Farro brothers
On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams has said that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they will be releasing new music in 2011, though it is not known yet if they'll manage to record a full album for release this 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 Noises.
On February 17, 2011, Hayley Williams has confirmed that the band will be hitting 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 late this year or in 2012. One of the new songs to be released include "In the Mourning", which Williams recently 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 producerRob Cavallo to record their next album.
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 Meyer had praised William's 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, 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," andNo Doubt
, who "have done amazing things," act as a pattern for the path in which Paramore would like to take their career.
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."
- Current members
- Hayley Williams – lead vocals, keyboards (2004–present)
- Jeremy Davis – bass guitar (2004, 2005–present)
- Taylor York – lead and rhythm guitar, glockenspiel, percussion (2007–present)
- Current touring members
- Justin York – rhythm and lead guitar, backing vocals (2010–present)
- Josh Freese – drums (2010–present)
- John Howard – rhythm guitar, keyboards, backing vocals (2010–present)
- Former members
- John Hembree – bass guitar (2005)
- Jason Bynum – rhythm guitar/backing vocals (2004–2005)
- Hunter Lamb – rhythm guitar (2005–2007)
- Josh Farro – lead guitar, backing vocals (2004–2010)
- Zac Farro – drums, percussion (2004–2010)
Main articles: Paramore Discography and List of Paramore songs
Old Paramore
