2002–2004: Formation and early years 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 at a weekly supplemental program for home-schooled students. 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 good friends, she started writing for them. Williams said of the members when she first met them, "They were the first people I met who were as passionate about music as I was." Williams was originally signed to Atlantic Records as a solo artist in 2003. Steunebrink and Richard Williams had originally discovered and signed her to a production deal that was later bought out by Atlantic. 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.
Lyor Cohen, the head of
Warner Music Group, had already identified Fueled by Ramen as a label they should partner with. It was decided the rock label would make an ideal match for Paramore. The band's first song written together was "Conspiracy", which was later used on their debut album. 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." During that summer, Paramore was featured on the
Shiragirl stage of the 2005
Warped Tour.
All We Know Is Falling was released on July 26, 2005, and reached No. 30 on
Billboards Heatseekers Chart. Paramore released "
Pressure" as its first single, with a video directed by
Shane Drake, but the song failed to chart. 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 in December 2005. 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 tours for both
Bayside and
the Rocket Summer. The band then covered
Foo Fighters' "
My Hero" for the
Sound of Superman soundtrack. During the summer of 2006, Paramore played a portion of Warped Tour, primarily on the
Volcom and
Hurley Stages. During the band's time at Warped Tour, they released
The Summer Tic EP, which was sold exclusively during the tour. Paramore's first US 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. That year they were voted "Best New Band", and Hayley Williams was voted as No. 2 "Sexiest Female", by readers of the British magazine
Kerrang!. In 2007, Lamb left the group to get married, and Paramore continued onward as a quartet. In April, Hayley Williams' vocals were featured in "Then Came To Kill" by
the Chariot. They headlined a tour in April through May 2007 with
This Providence,
the Almost, and Love Arcade. The Almost and Love Arcade were replaced by
Quietdrive for the second half of the tour.
2007–2008: Riot! in
Camden, New Jersey Before work began on the band's next album, Davis was expelled from the band due to "his lack of work ethic and participation in things that Zac, Hayley and I didn't agree with," according to Josh Farro. After an agreement involving the remaining three members, Davis was reinstated as bassist, and
Taylor York became the band's new guitarist. York had been in a band with the Farro brothers before the two met Williams. The album was recorded in
New Jersey. The album, titled
Riot!, was released on June 12, 2007, entering the
Billboard 200 at number 20 and the UK charts at number 24. The album sold 44,000 units its first week in the United States. According to when discussing what Misery Business was about, Williams stated, "When I was 13 or 14 and I had a crush on Josh, he didn't like me back," Williams said. "He would go hang out with his girlfriend, who I wrote 'Misery Business' about because I was a dick." 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 in an 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. , 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. Early 2008 saw Paramore touring the United Kingdom, supporting their album
Riot!, along with
New Found Glory. 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 website 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 11, 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. Starting on July 28, Paramore embarked on a tour named "The Final Riot!". The album includes a bonus DVD with a full concert recorded in
Chicago, as well as a behind the scenes documentary. As of April 9, 2009,
The Final Riot! is certified gold in the United States.
2009–2011: Brand New Eyes, departure of the Farros, and Singles Club In September 2008, Williams announced that the band were planning on releasing their third studio album in summer 2009. On November 18, 2008, the band announced they were in the process of writing their next album. in
Vancouver on the
Summer Tour 2009 Paramore spent six weeks in pre-production at Emac Studios in their hometown of
Franklin, the first time they had undergone pre-production without the guidance of a
producer. The band was visited by record producer
Rob Cavallo who reassured the band that they were on the right track. The band subsequently felt that the album and that their new material had the potential to surpass the success of their previous work. The band originally planned to record in
Nashville, but ended up recording in
Calabasas, California, with Cavallo in March 2009. The first single from the album was "
Ignorance" and was released July 7, 2009. Paramore was the special guest with
Bedouin Soundclash,
The Sounds and
Janelle Monáe at the
No Doubt Summer Tour 2009, starting in May 2009 in outdoor amphitheaters and arenas across the US and Canada. 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
laryngitis. "
Brick By Boring Brick", "
The Only Exception", "
Careful" and "
Playing God" were the album's following singles. "The Only Exception" was a top-forty single and went platinum in Ireland and the UK. 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,
AFI,
You Me at Six,
All Time Low,
A Day to Remember, and
Taking Back Sunday. Shortly before the tour, lead guitarist Josh Farro announced that he was engaged and stayed behind to plan his wedding. Justin York, brother of Taylor York, filled in for him on the tour. 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. The band were set to take a break after their South American Tour in 2011 to write for their fourth studio album. at
the Warfield in
San Francisco On December 18, 2010, a message was released through Paramore.net stating that Josh and Zac Farro were leaving the band. The band also confirmed the scheduled South American tour would still happen. On December 30, 2010,
MTV News interviewed Williams, York and Davis in
Franklin, Tennessee, regarding their reactions to Farro's response. The band members confirmed many of Farro's statements, notably that Williams was indeed the only member of the band actually signed to Atlantic. They added that they felt the statement was irrelevant, and claimed they had addressed many of the Farro's critiques already throughout the course of their career. On January 10, 2011, in an interview with MTV, Hayley Williams said that despite the band losing two of its founding members, they would release new music in 2011, although they had not confirmed if it would be a full album for release or just a small number of 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 core signature sound. On June 3, 2011, Paramore released the single "
Monster", featured on the
Transformers: Dark of the Moon soundtrack. This is the first song that the band released without the Farro brothers. On October 11, 2011, Paramore announced that they would release a new song for each of the remaining months of 2011. The band set up the
Singles Club on their website which gave fans the chance to purchase the singles when they were released, as they were released exclusively through the Singles Club and were therefore not sold elsewhere. and "
In the Mourning" on December 5. In 2011, former member, Josh Farro, formed Novel American, with Zac Farro later joining the band.
2012–2015: Paramore and Davis' third exit On April 18, 2012, Williams announced that the producer for their fourth album was
Justin Meldal-Johnsen. Current
Angels & Airwaves and former
Nine Inch Nails drummer
Ilan Rubin was confirmed to be the session drummer for the recording of the album.
Paramore was officially released on April 5, 2013, and a number one at US albums chart
Billboard 200. The first single from the album, titled "
Now", was released online on January 22, 2013, and the album's second single, "
Still Into You", was released on March 14, 2013, achieving commercial success. The third single, "
Daydreaming", was released on December 2, 2013. The album's fourth single, "
Ain't It Fun", was released on February 4, 2014, eventually becoming the band's highest-charting song in the United States and a winner for
Best Rock Song at the
57th Annual Grammy Awards. On November 24, 2014,
Paramore: Self-Titled Deluxe was released, which includes a remake of "
Hate to See Your Heart Break", a song originally on
Paramore, featuring
Joy Williams; this is the band's first collaboration on a song. The band embarked on an intimate tour with
Copeland, they added in a blog post: "It feels right to bring the Self-Titled era to a close. We've had a very personal and hugely triumphant journey with this one. What wouldn't feel right is saying goodbye to this time in the band's career and not celebrating it with our fans in some special way." On December 14, 2015, bassist Jeremy Davis left the band. In March 2016, Davis was involved in a legal battle with Paramore, claiming to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of a business partnership with Hayley Williams as a co-owner of the band. This was quickly dismissed and he was again involved in a legal battle with Hayley Williams and Taylor York over a breach of contract that would entitle him to ownership and authorship of songs on their self-titled record, including "Ain't It Fun". He also claimed to be eligible to enjoy the benefits of the earnings the two received from these songs and album. Davis reached a settlement with the band in May 2017. During this period, lead singer Williams later revealed that she suffered from depression and mental health issues following the departure of Davis as well as a divorce with her ex-husband
Chad Gilbert. In an interview with
Zane Lowe on
Beats 1 Radio, she has described it as "torment" and mentioned that she "didn't laugh for a long time." As a result, Williams privately left the band for a short period in 2015, briefly leaving York as the only remaining member of the group.
2016–2019: Zac Farro's return and After Laughter in London, June 2017 On January 19, 2016, Williams announced that the band was in the process of writing their fifth album. On June 8, 2016, the band posted a short video of themselves in the studio to their social media. This was preceded by a number of images which all included both former drummer Zac Farro and producer
Justin Meldal-Johnsen, leading fans and various media outlets to speculate the return of Farro. though he later clarified that he was only recording drums for the album and that he had not rejoined the band as a full member. Despite this, on February 2, 2017, the band announced that Farro would return as the official drummer of the band. On April 19, 2017, Paramore released "
Hard Times" as the lead single from their album
After Laughter, which they announced would be released on May 12, 2017. On May 3, a second single was released, titled "
Told You So". A music video for the song "
Fake Happy" was released on November 17, 2017. On February 5, 2018, a music video for "
Rose-Colored Boy" was released, which is also the album's fourth single. The music video for "
Caught in the Middle", the album's fifth single, was released on June 26, 2018. On September 7, 2018, Hayley Williams announced during a concert that the band will play the song "Misery Business" "for the last time for a really long time," mainly due to a line from the second verse that was perceived to be sexist, though this decision was reversed in 2022.
2020–2025: This Is Why and indefinite hiatus On May 11, 2020, Williams teased a potential return to a more guitar-driven sound on the band's sixth album, commenting, "We've found ourselves listening to a lot of older music that we grew up being inspired by." In January 2022, it was confirmed that the band had entered the studio to work on their upcoming sixth studio album. The band described the album as more "guitar heavy". On January 18, the band was announced to headline the newly founded
Las Vegas–based
When We Were Young festival alongside
My Chemical Romance on October 22, 2022, which was one of the first live performances the band had played since September 2018. On May 10, it was announced that the band would headline the
Austin City Limits Festival in
Austin, Texas, during October on the 9th and 16th of the same year, alongside
Red Hot Chili Peppers,
P!nk and
Lil Nas X. On July 15, 2022, it was announced that Paramore would be embarking on a tour in October and November 2022. On September 28, 2022, the band released the song "
This Is Why" as the lead single from
This Is Why, released on February 10, 2023. In November 2022, the band changed the album cover for their 2013 self-titled album to a picture of Hayley Williams from behind. On December 8, 2022, the band released the second single, "
The News". On January 12, 2023, the band released the third single, "C'est Comme Ça". Paramore was nominated for Favorite Music Group at the
2023 Kids' Choice Awards. On February 6, 2023, the band debuted the song "
Running Out of Time" at their album release show in Nashville. On February 16, 2023, the band released a music video for the album's fourth single, "Running Out of Time". The band's song, "This is Why", was nominated for "Best Alternative" at the
2023 MTV Video Music Awards. The band began teasing an upcoming remix album,
Re: This Is Why in late September 2023, posting audio snippets from the album on their official
Discord server. The album was officially announced on October 2, and released on October 6, 2023. Described as "almost a remix album",
Re: This Is Why features reworked, remixed, and rewritten versions of songs from the band's 2023 album
This Is Why, as well as an unreleased B-side demo. making Paramore the first female-fronted rock band to win that Grammy award, and the album's title track won
Best Alternative Music Performance. A week later, they canceled a co-headlining appearance in Anaheim at
iHeartRadio's Alter Ego festival scheduled for January 13, 2024, "due to unforeseen circumstances". In their place,
Fall Out Boy was announced.
Stereogum said that Paramore's label contract had expired. On January 10, 2024,
A24 announced a tribute album for the
Talking Heads concert film
Stop Making Sense, which features a cover of "
Burning Down The House" by Paramore as the leading track. In January 2024, the band was nominated for Best International Group at the 2024
BRIT Awards. On January 31, their cover of "Burning Down The House" was released as a single. On February 4, 2024, the band won two Grammy awards at the
66th Annual Grammy Awards with their album,
This Is Why winning
Best Rock Album and the title track winning
Best Alternative Music Performance. On February 10, 2024, Paramore were announced as the ambassadors for
Record Store Day 2024 and confirmed that they would continue as an independent band after the end of their contract with Atlantic Records. On March 1, 2024, a music video for "Thick Skull" was released. In September 2024, during an interview with
Dork, Williams revealed that Paramore had already started making new music, with demos made before they went on tour with
Taylor Swift. On July 25, 2025, the band released a deluxe digital edition of their debut album,
All We Know Is Falling for its 20th anniversary. On September 5, 2025, amongst breakup rumors, Williams announced that Paramore were "taking a break" following the release of Williams' third album
Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party. ==Musical style and influences==