Paramore is an American
rock band from
Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. Members are lead vocalist and keyboardist
Hayley Williams, lead guitarist Josh Farro, bassist Jeremy Davis, drummer Zac Farro, and rhythm guitarist Taylor York.
The group released their debut album
All We Know Is Falling in 2005, and their 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 on September 29, 2009.
Brand New Eyes is the band's highest charting album to date.
[www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/music/news/e3iecb83415cefdd2b06aaf1d104e2f3a1a]
History
2002–2005: Formation and All We Know Is Falling
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.
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.
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). 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.
The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. Over the following years, Paramore performed at venues outside the greater Nashville area, including the concert festivals
Purple Door and
Warped Tour.
John Janick, CEO and co-founder of the music label
Fueled by Ramen, got a hold of Paramore's demos and went to a
Taste of Chaos performance in
Orlando, Florida to see the band perform live. After a smaller private performance at a warehouse, the band was signed to the label in April 2005.
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.
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
[
Paramore.jpg|thumb|Lead vocalist Hayley Williams (front) 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.
[
cropped.jpg|thumb|left|Paramore at The Social, [[Orlando, Florida|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
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–present: 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
[1] 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
[2] 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."
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.
[Bedouin Soundclash, and Paramore Opening for No Doubt's Reunion Tour. Noise Press. Retrieved on 2009-02-25]
Paramore wrote and completed their newest record
Brand New Eyes in early 2009. The first single off
brand new eyes is titled "
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 announced on their official site that they will be hitting intimate venues across the
USA. The tour started on September 29 (the day that
Brand New Eyes was released)
and ends November 1 in their home town.
[[3]]
Paramore recorded a performance for
MTV Unplugged and it can now be viewed on MTV.com. On September 29, vocalist Hayley Williams had to leave stage during the encore of their first show of the brand new eyes fall tour due to hoarseness. On October 2, it was announced that a few tour dates were postponed due to Hayley Williams becoming infected with
laryngitis.
[www.paramore.net/blog/tour-dates-postponed/]
On November 23, 2009, the band released
Brick By Boring Brick as the 2nd single from
Brand New Eyes. The video debuted on the band's website.
Paramore then played a sold out 15-date European tour, with 7 dates in the UK, supported by special guests:
You Me At Six, with
Paper Route and Now Now Every Children, also.
[www.wcms-uk.warner.delivery.warner.b5.d9tcloud.de/artists/paramore/website/news-en/test/] Their stadium tour culminated at London's
Wembley Arena, to an audience of 12,500.
[www.virgin.com/music/reviews/paramore-wembley-arena][en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wembley_Arena]
Williams announced on January 14, 2010 that the band's next single is "
The Only Exception" and may initially be released as an international single. The video was launched on the band's official website on February 17 and was directed by Brandon Branches, director of
The Final Riot DVD, and features fan submitted
Valentine's Day cards.
[paramoreband.livejournal.com]
The band performed in 2010 in the
Australian Soundwave Festival along with bands such as
Faith No More,
Placebo,
My Chemical Romance,
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.
[paramoreband.livejournal.com/72946.html]
The band, with Farro returned, plans to embark on a spring tour of the U.S. in late April.
[wpparty.com/2010/03/08/paramores-hayley-williams-talks-josh-farros-wedding-plans/]
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."
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."
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
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 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."
Band members
Current members
- Hayley Williams – Lead Vocals. A native of Meridian, Mississippi, born December 27, 1988 (age 21),
[Hayley Williams – paramore.net]
- Josh Farro – Lead guitar, Backing Vocals, Unclean Vocals.
[www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX0xY7e4ue8] Born in Voorhees, New Jersey on September 29, 1987 (age 22). He is the older Farro brother.
- Jeremy Davis – Bass guitar. Born February 8, 1985 (age 24) in North Little Rock, Arkansas. Davis is the oldest member of the band.
- Zac Farro – Drums, Percussion. Zac the younger of the two Farro brothers. He was born June 4, 1990 (age 19) in Voorhees, New Jersey.
- Taylor York – Rhythm Guitar. Born December 17, 1989 (age 20) in Nashville, Tennessee. On June 15, 2009, Paramore announced that Taylor York has officially become a member of the band, after touring for two years (2007-2009).
[– Rocklouder]
Former Members
Discography
Studio albums
EPs
Live albums
Awards
Appearances in video games
In 2005, Paramore made its first video game appearance with "
Pressure" being featured in the console versions of the video game
The Sims 2.
In March 2008, Paramore made its first
rhythm game appearance with "
crushcrushcrush" as a downloadable track in the
Rock Band games and later being a playable song in
Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades. Later that year,
Rock Band 2 was released with the song "
That's What You Get" included as a playable track. The video game
Guitar Hero World Tour featured the song "
Misery Business" along with
Hayley Williams participating in motion capture sessions for the game. She is featured as an unlockable character in the game as well.
"
Misery Business" is also featured in
Saint's Row 2, and the soundtrack for
EA Sports NHL 08. The music video for "
Decode", along with the
Twilight film trailer, was shown in the North American
Home Theater of
PlayStation Home from December 11, 2008 to December 18, 2008.
