While gaining widespread popularity in the mid-2000s, they’ve experienced a huge resurgence in 2023 thanks partly to the emo revival and being the support act for Taylor Swift on her Eras tour. But everyone is wondering did Paramore break up? Or are they just reinventing themselves because of clues on social media?
Paramore was formed in Franklin, Tennessee, in 2004, and its original members included vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Josh Farro, drummer Zac Farro, guitarist Jason Bynum, and bassist Jeremy Davis. They achieved mainstream success with their second studio album, Riot! (2007), which featured hit singles like “Misery Business” and “Crushcrushcrush.” The album’s success helped the band establish themselves as a prominent force in the pop-punk and emo genres.
Following the success of Riot!, Paramore experienced lineup changes, with the departure of guitarist Jason Bynum and bassist Jeremy Davis. The band continued to release successful albums, including “Brand New Eyes” (2009), which featured the popular singles “Ignorance” and “The Only Exception.” These days, Paramore comprises two founding members: Williams and Farro, with the addition of Taylor York.
Now, fans are frantically discussing the question: Did Paramore break up? Because some clues on social media suggest something is going on.
Did Paramore break up?
Did Paramore break up? Some people think they might have because their official Paramore Instagram account, with more than 3.5 million followers, has been totally wiped—same with Hayley Williams. Their website, too, delivers a 404 error, meaning the webpage does not exist. That’s as of December 26, 2023.
Two weeks prior, a post to their Instagram stories had fans in a panic because they spoke of “uncertainty” when it came to the band’s future. “Now that Paramore has spent the year touring behind This Is Why (and making sure to take better care of themselves while they’re at it), a chapter of the band’s career has come to a close. They’ve now fulfilled all label obligations and are effectively free agents. As for the future of Paramore, all three members agreed that there’s a level of uncertainty,” they wrote.
But the story also included a link to their interview with UPROXX, which featured the quote in full, adding at the end: “But one thing’s for sure — they’re still going to be together, and they’re still going to keep having fun. “The only thing that matters is we will still get to be each other’s community,” Williams said. Farro agreed: “I just hope we can keep building the Paramore empire and then rule the world.”
So mostly, fans need to cool their jets. “Artists nuking their socials before a new era is pretty common these days, and them changing record labels/starting a label/going independent/whatever it is they’re choosing to do is a pretty massive event,” wrote one fan on Reddit. “They’ll come back in a week or two with new band photos and maybe new branding and/or logo and people are going to be wondering what they were worrying about before.”
Some fans have theories as to why this may have happened and it could have something to do with Hayley Williams. “At the final show of the tour she mentioned she’d quit the internet. I wonder if she’s just sick of being the “face” of the band, because basically everything gets blamed on her. She does a lot to get people to recognise the other members of the band, she always has. I feel like now the contract she signed as a teenager has ended, if the focus will be less on her in the band now and more on the other members,” one observed.
“The amount of times I see people refer to Paramore as “she/her” is actually kind of wild, especially with Z + T have done so much for the band as well. I see it tonnes not only just in the wild, but also in this subreddit. I think maybe they want the perspective to change and I absolutely don’t blame them or her for wanting that to change.”
This was a popular theory. Another fan speculated: “I think it’s difficult to not be seen as the ‘face’ when you’re the main vocalist in any band. But in Paramore/Hayley’s case, it’s perpetuated even more by the fact she’s a woman (and the only woman) in the band, and one of few women in the space.
“I guess this means she is more distinctive in the genre than any of the rest of the band would be, meaning she just is more famous, especially since her solo work too. I also wonder about some media appearances (e.g., with Jimmy Fallon) where it seems to be just Hayley making an appearance – I wonder why this is the case and that also puts the focus on Hayley? Maybe the decision wasn’t made by the band but I thought it was a shame to not include T + Z!”
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