Taylor Swift’s mega-successful Eras tour has surpassed all expectations and from the US to Asia and now Europe, she continues to elevate her touring game. While giving her fans the biggest surprises including her brand new The Tortured Poets Department set, she has also collaborated with the best artists as her support acts. After Phoebe Bridgers and Sabrina Carpenter, her Europe tour has assigned the famed rock band Paramore for the job. Featuring Swift’s close friend Hayley Williams on vocals alongside guitarist Taylor York, and drummer Zac Farro, here’s all you need to know about Paramore, their net worth and Eras tour performances and setlist.
Taylor Swift first revealed the news of Paramore being her support act for the Europe leg of the Eras tour in July last year. Taking to Instagram to share the news, the singer also dropped an old photograph of her alongside Hayley Williams, showcasing their close bond. It’s a special friendship and Swift made sure to let her fans know as she mentioned her excitement to embark on her Europe tour with a friend from her teens. Given the singer’s reputation, it’s no surprise that she chose another successful female musician to join her on the road.
Following a four-night run in Paris starting May 9, the Eras tour will then head to Germany, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Spain and the UK. The blockbuster tour’s Europe leg is expected to make headlines for Swift’s boyfriend Travis Kelce’s visits, new TTPD easter eggs and more. For Paramore fans, it’s also a rare chance to watch Hayley Williams perform the band’s biggest hits on stage as well as add some surprise covers. Here’s taking a look at Paramore’s net worth, most famous songs, and their vocalist Hayley Williams’ connection with Taylor Swift.
All about Paramore: Net worth and role as Eras tour support act
Paramore’s original members and debut
19 years ago, Paramore played their very first show at The End in Nashville, TN. pic.twitter.com/Hpr6FPIdyY
— Paramore Tour Updates (@paramore_tour) May 2, 2023
Paramore was formed in 2004 — a fascinating chapter in music that saw Britney Spears releasing her seminal hit Toxic as a single, Usherruling the charts with Burn, Hoobastank dropping the era-defining tune The Reason, and My Chemical Romance bursting into the scene with copious amounts of eyeliner and their sophom*ore album Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge.
The punk rock band began their musical journey with after-school jamming sessions as Hayley Williams, brothers Josh and Zac Farro, Jeremy Davis and Jason Bynum got together in their teens. As the up-and-coming band performed at local festivals in Franklin, Tennessee, they soon caught the eye of record labels.
It’s the stuff of dreams for most bands to start the way that Paramore did, considering they were signed by major record labels Atlantic Records and Fueled By Ramen in 2005 in an early stage of their musical journey. Like most bands, they went through their set of ups and downs with multiple shuffles in their lineup which began with Jeremy Davis as the first member to drop out of the group. In the year that they debuted their first album, All We Know Is Falling, another member quit as Jason Bynum was replaced by guitarist Hunter Lamb.
While the band didn’t find instant success with their first album in the US, their emo/alternative rock singles began to gain momentum in the UK which also got them featured on the UK rock chart in 2005.
Breakthrough hit and new members
The song that put Paramore on the map and became their breakout hit was Misery Business. Featured on their second album titled Riot, other popular songs included That’s What You Get and Hallelujah. The success of Riot was special considering it also marked the band’s first-ever Grammy nomination in the Best New Artist category. At this point, Taylor York joined as a new member and replaced Hunter Lamb. York continues to be a member of the band today.
Paramore’s upward trajectory continued as they dropped their third album in 2009 — Brand New Eyes. Despite their young age, the fairly new band competed alongside some of the greatest rock bands including Green Day, Linkin Park and more. Their third album surpassed the records set by their previous works and sealed their position as one of the best punk rock bands of the time. Notably, Brand New Eyes is the same album that features the song All I Wanted, famously known to be one of Billie Eilish’s all-time favourite songs.
Following the success of their third album, the band’s touring adventures began and years before the Eras tour, Paramore first joined You Me At Six for their European leg and even got a chance to perform at the Wembley Stadium in London, their biggest venue at the time.
Shortly after this tour, the band suffered a major setback as it was announced that founding members Zac and Josh Farro were leaving the group due to personal reasons. While Paramore’s future looked bleak following the Farro brothers’ exit, fans were in for a surprise as they turned into a three-piece group consisting of Hayley, Jeremy Davis (who returned after a brief exit) and Taylor York. As a trio, the first song released by them was Monster, for the soundtrack of Transformers: Dark of the Moon.
Paramore’s greatest hits and solo projects
Despite undergoing a constant shift in the lineup and members dropping out, lead vocalist Hayley Williams has been a constant and truly the voice of the band in every way. With Jeremy Davis’ eventual exit and Zac Farro’s return, Paramore currently remains a three-piece band with drummer Zac Farro, and guitarist Taylor York alongside Williams. The trio released the band’s fifth album After Laughter in 2017 and much like the rest of their albums, it instantly found a spot on the Top 10 charts. It features the popular tracks Hard Times and Forgiveness which continue to have a massive fanbase today. If you’re a newbie to Paramore’s discography, we’ve got you covered with the band’s greatest hits below.
Paramore’s greatest hits over the years
Not long after their fifth album, every member of the band went on to pursue solo projects which led to the group taking a brief hiatus in 2019. While fans were initially disappointed with the news, they supported Hayley Williams’ debut solo album, Petals for Armor which came out in 2020 and found decent success.
Eventually, giving much-needed respite to their fans amid rumours of disbandment, the group announced their return in 2021 and began performing again. Their last album This is Why came out in 2023, nearly five years after its announcement and it was well worth the wait considering it earned the band two major Grammy wins at the 2024 Grammy Awards for Best Alternative Music Performance and Best Rock Album.
Despite the Grammy win, in terms of their greatest hits, while songs from their new album were well-received, it’s their old tracks like Misery Business that still have the most streams. Also, Decode which featured on the Twilight soundtrack is among their most streamed songs on YouTube. Interestingly, Misery Business was also found to be the inspiration for Olivia Rodrigo‘s breakup anthem Good 4 U. After fans observed similarities between the two songs, Rodrigo added Hayley Williams and Josh Farro to the song’s writing credits, thus avoiding a potential plagiarism proceeding.
Hayley Williams and Taylor Swift’s decades-long friendship
To truly understand why Paramore being a support act for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour is iconic, one has to look at the history of the friendship between the two singers. Taylor and Hayley both started as young artists from Nashville and even went head to head at the Grammys when Paramore and Swift were nominated for Best New Artist. Interestingly, the duo owe their close friendship to Taylor’s mum Andrea Swift who first approached Hayley at a Grammys party asking if she could connect the two musicians given their similar backgrounds and age group. The rest they say is history and Williams and Swift have been each other’s biggest cheerleaders ever since.
Their diverse genres haven’t stopped them from collaborating on multiple occasions. From appearing in Swift’s Bad Blood music video to joining her on stage at the Speak Now tour, Williams has done it all. She recently also featured on one of the tracks from the vault, Castles Crumbling for Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
🚨| Taylor Swift on Hayley Williams at today's show of 'The Eras Tour'! #ParisTSTheErasTour
"Yesterday my friend Hayley and I were going down memory lane. We started out as two teenagers in Nashville writing songs. We can't believe we get to be on tour together!" pic.twitter.com/YG7RRjhPvw
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) May 10, 2024
On a personal level, their rapport is even greater and is reflected in Williams’ account of the time when Swift offered to be her plus one and a shoulder to lean on in a difficult moment.
Speaking to People, the Paramore singer recalled, “Not long after we became friends, she knew I felt awkward going to my ex’s wedding, so she tagged along with me, made it fun, and then we ditched the reception to go to the Cheesecake Factory.” Now, that’s what we call true friendship.
Paramore’s Eras tour setlist
With the ongoing Eras tour, Taylor Swift has been defying all expectations by raising the bar with each show; and following in her footsteps is Paramore. Inspired by Swift, they have been dropping surprise performances and switching up their setlists every night for the tour. The band’s 40-minute set from the original Eras tour setlist in Glendale was slightly different from their Paris setlist and it has been observed that the band has been changing track five to a surprise song at every show.
🚨| Paramore have officially taken the stage and kicked off Day 4, the final day, of Taylor Swift's 'The Eras Tour' in Paris, France! #ParisTSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/4IdD8MdWUb
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) May 12, 2024
Besides fan-favourite songs like Brick By Boring Brick and This Is Why, they have also added a couple of covers to their set including Burning Down the House by Talking Heads.
Check out Paramore’s Eras tour setlist:
- Hard Times / Heart of Glass (Blondie Cover)
- Burning Down the House (Talking Heads Cover)
- Still Into You
- Caught in the Middle
- Brick By Boring Brick
- The Only Exception
- That’s What You Get
- Ain’t It Fun
- This Is Why
After performing Brick By Boring Brick at the May 9 show in Paris, the band then switched it up for Decode on May 10 followed by Forgiveness for the May 11th show and Rose Colored Boy / I Wanna Dance With Somebody mashup for the May 12th performance.
Paramore net worth
Among the members of Paramore, Hayley Williams has the highest net worth and has amassed a fortune of USD 10 million, which incidentally is almost the same amount that Taylor Swift is making personally per stop of the Eras tour according to Forbes.
For Williams, apart from earning a majority of her wealth through her musical projects, the singer has also signed major endorsem*nt deals and previously partnered with MAC Cosmetics for a makeup collection. She also dabbled in business and started her own hair dye company in 2016 called Good Dye Young. There have been reports suggesting that following the Eras tour performances, Paramore’s net worth is set to see a major hike.
As for the net worth of other members of Paramore, while the details of drummer Zac Farro’s earnings are unknown, guitarist Taylor York reportedly has a net worth of USD 8 million.
In terms of upcoming projects, apart from reaching peak popularity in 2024 with their ongoing Eras tour performances, the band is also looking forward to new collaborations. R&B singer SZA confirmed earlier this year that she will be partnering with the band and that a song is already in the works. The band recently also released a new version of their demo, Sanity remixed by Jack Antonoff.
(Main and featured images: John Lamparski/Getty Images; Paramore/Instagram)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Why has Paramore deleted social media?
Paramore had previously wiped their social media pages clean after ending their two-decade-long contract with Atlantic Records. The band later started afresh with new posts.
– Who is Paramore’s lead singer?
Hayley Williams is the lead singer of Paramore and is a founding member of the band. She started the band alongside her school friends at the age of 14. The net worth of Paramore singer is USD 10 million.
– Is Paramore still touring with Taylor Swift?
Paramore has joined Taylor Swift on her Eras tour as a support act and will be performing on tour for the entire run of the 2024 European Eras Tour summer dates.
– Are Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams friends?
Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams have shared a close friendship since 2008. The duo has been close since back when the two artists were up for the Best New Artist Grammy Award.
