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Emos everywhere rejoice: Paramore are officially not broken up, Hayley Williams herself confirmed it.
Speculation that the band had split up exploded after the iconic frontwoman, 36, dropped a new solo album without any warning.
Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party seemed to point to relationship troubles with her bandmate Taylor York, 35, particularly in the lyrics of recently released track, Parachute.
The album came days after Paramore’s 20th anniversary, which the 00s group celebrated with a deluxe release of their debut album, All We Know Is Falling.
As fans eagerly sank their teeth into Hayley’s new music, fears that she had split with Taylor and the entire band had collapsed began to grow.
The Only Exception hitmaker has now confirmed Paramore are still together, although they are on a break.
‘Do we ever know where we’re at?!’ she joked when speaking to The Face Magazine. ‘We always take huge breaks.
‘In order for us to metabolise shit that we go through as people, it takes the amount of time it takes between albums.’
Firmly dispelling any speculation about her status with Taylor, she added: ‘There are no better musicians in the world than Zac [Farro] and Taylor.
‘There are no better performers than [the touring musicians affectionately known as the] Parafour. It’s just magic, man.’
While she’s away ‘strengthen[ing] other muscles’, Hayley said she feels a ‘vindication in knowing that nobody can discount Paramore’.
As the only one signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist, separately from the band’s Fueled By Ramen label, the Decode singer felt tension to not stand out against her bandmates.
She said she is simply excited to visit ‘these parts of myself that I deflated because I was scared that people were going to notice me too much.’
Fans were relieved to hear that the band was not over, with naomechateiem on X declaring ‘life’s worth living again’.
The friends-to-lovers romance between Hayley and Taylor has been well documented over the years, with fans feeling especially sad at the thought that they had broken up.
Hardtimesfarro said: ‘I already knew this but thank god she finally confirmed it. I was tired of hearing breakup allegations AGAIN,’
‘Did nobody listen to her scream I’M IN BAND I’M IN A BAND I’M IN A BAND???’ added 2007warpedtour, referencing solo track Ice In My OJ.
‘Paramore update hitting harder after one whole month of everyone being pessimistic,’ said chrrypm.
‘She NEEDED to release this music. I’m totally ok with a Paramore break if it means I got an album that is making me crash out daily lol,’ declared alexandria_g_.
Why did fans think Paramore broke up?
The emotional breakdown from fans was stemmed from Hayley’s new solo album, which first appeared on the Simmer singer’s own website and could only be accessed via a code sent by her hair dye company.
Tracks like ‘Disappearing Man’ and ‘Love Me Different’ appeared to hint at a breakup, and, of course, fans jumped to the worst conclusion.
‘Listening to new Hayley Williams album that’s clearly about a breakup with Taylor York,’ wrote @goodlarkcharm on X.
Ellimac_ added: ‘Hayley Williams just released 17 songs about breaking up Taylor York. Hopefully unrelated, she also is selling a shirt that says “HW is my favorite band”. Please say sike. I cannot handle another Paramore breakup rn.’
‘So we’ve got Paramore disbandment allegations, Taylor and Hayley have broken up allegations…WELCOME TO HAYLEY WILLIAMS’ THIRD SOLO ALBUM i guess…’ said decodethemonstr.
Chall3ngers shared a gif of Family Guy’s Peter Griffin driving off a cliff with the caption: ‘Streets are saying Hayley Williams and Taylor York brokeup.’
Neither Hayley nor the notoriously private Taylor, who have been together for almost a decade, had said anything about their relationship to prompt this panic.
The Misery Business singer was previously married to Chad Gilbert, before their split in 2017, so some pointed to this relationship as inspiration.
However, on one track, Hayley sings: ‘Friends to lovers choking true/ You said it, I deserve someone who knows what I am worth/ Now I wonder what am I worth to you?’
Since Hayley and Taylor were friends for years before making it official, fans have taken this lyric to be about their relationship.
Elsewhere, she sings: ‘The long walk between the car and the house/I just sit behind the wheel ’til the battery runs out/ Home is where we rule out, used to sing down the hall/ to your signature sound.
‘Now it’s just so quiet, I hate this gorgeous house/ Can’t hear my heart beat over emptiness now’.
While fans point to her relationship with Taylor here, the track itself is titled ‘Negative Self Talk’, which fits with other songs that explore her own mental health — with one explicitly named after an antidepressant, mirtazapine.
Parachute, which quickly went viral, added fuel to the fire as Hayley sang: ‘And you were at my wedding, I was broken, you were drunk/ You could’ve told me not to do it, I would’ve run, I would’ve run/ Tell me what was the moment, you decided to give up.’
Not everyone was spiralling online, with plenty of long-term fans poking fun at the instant doomsday response.
TaekyoghouI joked: ‘Hayley Williams, you have to stop. You smoke too tough. Your swag too different. Your lyrics are so great that everyone starts believing Paramore broke up.’
Afterlauqhter added: ‘Seeing longtime Paramore fans immediately jumping to doomerism when we’ve had these songs for precisely one hour and have likely only listened to each one Once and don’t even know the context for the timeline any of them what is up with you guys? Just enjoy the music for now.’
This is not the first time Hayley has released solo music, having dropped two EPs then full albums Petals for Armor and Flowers for Vases / Descansos in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
She’s also featured as a solo artist on collaborations like Taylor Swift’s Castles Crumbling, a vault track from Speak Now, as well as 2010’s iconic Airplanes with B.o.B.
Earlier this year, she released I Like It I Like It with Moses Sumney, which came with an official video of the pair posing together for a photoshoot as they sang the track.
Paramore’s future has been a big question in fans’ minds ever since their 20-year contract with Atlantic Records expired following the release of sixth studio album, This Is Why.
Their social media was wiped clean to mark this new era and a fresh slate, again prompting disbandment rumours.
After this, the band went on tour with Taylor Swift — a lifelong friend of Hayley’s — with loved-up songs from the Paramore frontwoman and guitarist.
It’s hardly surprising, with a packed tour schedule, label changes, and Hayley (and bandmate Zac) working on solo projects, that Paramore is yet to announce new music.
This article was first published on July 29, 2025.
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