Hayley Williams
Hayley Williams performing in 2017
Born	Hayley Nichole Williams (1988-12-27) December 27, 1988 (age 29) Meridian, Mississippi, U.S.
Occupation	Singer songwriter musician
Years active	2003–present
Spouse(s)	Chad Gilbert (m. 2016; separated 2017)
Musical career
Origin	Franklin, Tennessee, U.S.
Genres	Alternative rock[1] pop punk[2][3] pop rock[4] power pop[5] emo pop[6] emo[7]
Instruments	Vocals piano keyboards guitar bass drums percussion
Labels	Fueled by Ramen Atlantic
Associated acts	Paramore
Website	paramore.net

Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. She serves as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter and occasional keyboardist of the rock band Paramore.

Williams was born in Meridian, Mississippi, and moved to Franklin, Tennessee, after her parents divorced when she was 15.
In 2004, she formed Paramore alongside Josh Farro, Zac Farro, and Jeremy Davis. The band currently consists of Hayley Williams, Zac Farro and Taylor York. The band has five studio albums: All We Know Is Falling (2005), Riot! (2007), Brand New Eyes (2009), Paramore (2013) and After Laughter (2017).

Williams recorded the song "Teenagers" for the soundtrack of Jennifer's Body (2009) and has made numerous collaborations with artists such as October Fall, The Chariot, Set Your Goals and New Found Glory. In 2010, she was featured on the single "Airplanes" by B.o.B. "Airplanes" peaked at number two on the US Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, the song topped the charts in New Zealand and the United Kingdom and peaked within the top ten of the charts in Australia, Canada and the Republic of Ireland. A sequel to the song, "Airplanes, Part II", features new verses from B.o.B, and a verse from fellow American rapper Eminem, while Williams's vocals remain the same. This collaboration led to a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

In 2015, Williams launched the online beauty and music series "Kiss-Off" on Popular TV. Also in 2016, Williams launched her own hair dye company, Good Dye Young.

Early life[edit]

Hayley Nichole Williams^[8][9] was born in Meridian, Mississippi to Joey and Cristi Williams, on December 27, 1988.^[6] She has two younger half sisters.^[10][11] As a result of her parents divorcing in 2002, Williams moved to Franklin, Tennessee.^[12][13] She met former band member Josh and current band member Zac Farro in her new school.^[14][15] Shortly after arriving, she began taking vocal lessons with Brett Manning.^[16][17][18] While still at school she tried out for a local funk cover band, The Factory, where she met Jeremy Davis.^[18][15][19]

Music career[edit]

Williams was discovered in 2003 by managers Dave Steunebrink and Richard Williams, who signed the 14-year-old to a two-year production deal.^[20][21] At the time she was writing pop songs with songwriters in Nashville.^[21] Williams was introduced to Atlantic Records A&R Tom Storms through Richard Williams' attorneys Jim Zumwalt and Kent Marcus, and then signed to the label by Jason Flom.^[18] The label's original plan for their new artist was to make her a solo pop artist but Williams objected to this, saying that she wanted to be part of a band and play pop punk music.^[7][18][22]

Williams performing on Warped Tour 2007

Atlantic decided to go along with her wishes, and she then formed Paramore with Josh Farro, Zac Farro, and Jeremy Davis.^[21] The music of Paramore was 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 huge label. They instead released their music through a "cooler" niche label, Fueled by Ramen.^[21] According to Williams, the name "Paramore" came from the maiden name of the mother of one of their first bass players.^[23] Once the group learned the meaning of the homophone "paramour" ("secret lover"), they decided to adopt the name, using the Paramore spelling.^[18][24] The band's debut album, All We Know Is Falling, was released in 2005 when Hayley was only 16 years old. Paramore has since released four more studio albums, Riot! (2007), Brand New Eyes (2009), the self-titled Paramore (2013) and After Laughter (2017). In June 2009, the band welcomed Taylor York (rhythm guitar) as an official member, although he had already been playing as a touring member with the band since 2007. In December 2010, two of the founding members of Paramore (Josh and Zac Farro) left the band. The news was posted by Williams on Paramore's website, with Josh later posting a controversial blog post confirming their departure.^[25][26]

Williams performing in 2010

In 2006, Paramore toured outside of the US for the first time, which included a headline tour of the UK and supporting post-hardcore rock band The Blackout on the Give It A Name Festival in Europe.^[27] The following year, she and the rest of Paramore made an appearance in the music video for "Kiss Me" by New Found Glory.^[28] In the 2007 Kerrang! Readers' Poll, she finished second to Evanescence's Amy Lee in the "Sexiest Female" category,^[29] going on to win the first place spot for "Sexiest Female" a year later in the 2008 poll,^[30] and again in the 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 poll. She also appears as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour after completing "Misery Business" in the vocalist campaign.^[31][32][33]

Williams performing as part of Paramore on Monumentour in 2014

Williams wrote and recorded the song "Teenagers", which was featured in the soundtrack for the feature film Jennifer's Body. After the release of "Teenagers", Williams stated that she had no plans to establish herself as a solo artist.^[34] In 2010, she appeared on the tracks "Airplanes" and "Airplanes, Part II" from alternative rapper B.o.B's debut album, B.o.B Presents: The Adventures of Bobby Ray.^[35][36][37] When it was released as a single, "Airplanes" peaked within the top ten in nineteen countries, including the number one position in the United Kingdom and New Zealand.^[38][39]

Williams performing in 2018

EDM producer Zedd and Williams collaborated on the track "Stay the Night", from his debut studio album, Clarity,^[40][41] which was released in 2013. Williams was honored with the "Trailblazer Award" in the 2014 Billboard's Women in Music Awards for making a unique mark in music and paving the way for other artists.^[42] In 2015, Williams starred as the 'Crimson Curse' in Taylor Swift's music video for her single, "Bad Blood", alongside sixteen other celebrities.^[43] Along with band member and co-writer Taylor York, Williams was nominated for and won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Song at the 2015 ceremony for the song "Ain't It Fun".^[44][45][46] In July 2015, Williams won the APMA for Best Vocalist.^[47][40]

Voice[edit]

Williams is a soprano with a four-octave range, including the whistle register, and is noted for her acrobatic singing style with vocal qualities described as lithe and versatile. She also possesses a slight country twang in some of her works.^{[48][49][50][51][52]}Alternative Press states that Williams "has more charisma than singers twice her age, and her band aren't far behind in their chops, either."^[53] Singer-songwriter John Mayer praised Williams' voice in a blog in October 2007, calling her "The great orange hope" ("orange" in reference to her hair color).^[54][55]

Public image[edit]

Williams performing at Rock im Park in Nuremberg, Germany, in 2013

In March 2013, Williams announced she was partnering with MAC Cosmetics for the release of a new makeup collection on April 9, 2013.^[56][57] The four-piece collection included a bright orange lipstick, an orange nail polish, a shimmery coral eye shadow and a beauty powder.^[58] Hayley appeared on the April 2013 cover of Nylon magazine to promote Paramore's self-titled album.^[59][60]

In October of that year, Williams partnered with the Hard Rock Café's PINKTOBER charity campaign to raise awareness and funding for breast cancer and its research.^[61][62]

In 2015, she launched the online beauty and music series "Kiss-Off" on Popular TV.^[63][64]

In 2016, after over four years of planning, Williams launched her own hair dye company, Good Dye Young, alongside her hair and makeup artist, Brian O'Connor.^[65][66][67] The colors offered by the company include an orange, Riot!; a pink, Ex-Girl; a blue, Blue Ruin; a yellow, Steal My Sunshine; a red, Rock Lobster; a purple, PPL Eater; a green, Kowabunga; a teal, Narwhal; and a black, None More Black.^[68][69]

In 2017, Good Dye Young launched a temporary hair dye line, that disappears after one wash, called Poser Paste. The paste colors include orange, blue, pink and yellow. The colors can be mixed to create custom shades.^[65][70][71]

Personal life[edit]

Williams is a Christian and regularly discusses her faith in relation to her music, but has been critical of the judgmental nature of some in the Christian community. The Farro brothers cited differing attitudes on faith as contributing to their exit from Paramore.^[72][73]

Beginning in 2008, she had been in a relationship with New Found Glory's lead guitarist Chad Gilbert. On December 31, 2014, Williams confirmed that she and Gilbert had become engaged, after being proposed to on Christmas Day.^[74][75] They were married on February 20, 2016.^[76] The couple announced on July 1, 2017 that they were separated.^[77]

Williams has been vocal about her choice not to smoke, drink, or use recreational drugs.^[78][79]

Influences[edit]

Williams cites artists such as Saves the Day, MewithoutYou, Slick Shoes, The Chariot, Now, Now, No Doubt, Fireworks, Set Your Goals, Tegan and Sara, New Found Glory, H2O, Lemuria and The Swellers as her favorite bands.^[8] She also mentions her liking for female singers such as Debbie Harry, Siouxsie Sioux, Gwen Stefani, Beyoncé, and The Distillers.^[80]

Discography[edit]

Studio albums with Paramore[edit]

• 
  All We Know Is Falling (2005)


• 
  Riot! (2007)


• 
  Brand New Eyes (2009)


• 
  Paramore (2013)


• 
  After Laughter (2017)^[14][81]
  

Songs[edit]

Featured singles[edit]

Other appearances[edit]

Awards and nominations[edit]

References[edit]

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hayley Williams.

• 
  Hayley William's Profile on Paramore.net
  


• 
  Quotations related to Hayley Williams at Wikiquote