Paramore’s Influence Is All Around Us

How the beloved pop-punk band—and especially its leader, Hayley Williams—is currently inspiring everyone from Olivia Rodrigo to Willow Smith
Chloe Moriondo Billie Eilish Hayley Williams and more
From left: Chloe Moriondo, Billie Eilish, Paramore’s Hayley Williams, Olivia Rodrigo, and Willow Smith. Williams photo by Lindsey Byrnes, Moriondo photo by Jimmy Fontaine; Eilish photo by Kelia Anne MacCluskey; all other photos via Getty. Graphic by C.J. Robinson. 

On her charming kiss-off “Favorite Band,” 18-year-old singer-songwriter Chloe Moriondo has an epiphany. Why, she asks herself, is she wasting her time with some aloof wet blanket when she could be “at home with my headphones and Paramore.” Then, with yearning in her voice, she makes her allegiance even clearer: “And Hayley just gets me/The way you never did.”

Since breaking through with 2007’s Riot!, Paramore, led by frontwoman Hayley Williams, have consistently used a combination of emotional honesty, optimism, and spiky guitar hooks to both mirror and smash through the walled-off world of teen angst. A few years ago, the band’s sound and spirit encouraged indie rockers like Snail Mail and Soccer Mommy to pick up guitars, and rapper Lil Uzi Vert once referred to Williams as “the best… of my generation.” Now, Paramore’s influence is being felt by a new group of artists navigating the turbulence of youth, when every heartbreak and setback can feel apocalyptic. Beyond Moriondo, the band’s sound and snarl can be heard in the gleeful middle finger that is Olivia Rodrigo’s No. 1 hit “good 4 u,” the Hot Topic thrash of Willow Smith’s “Transparent Soul,” the diaristic bliss of girl in red’s “Serotonin,” and Billie Eilish’s caustic eye-rolls. That these artists were an average of 5-and-a-half years old when Riot! was released only underscores Paramore’s staying power—and Williams’ role as a sage pop-punk den mother.

As Paramore’s sound has evolved from mall-punk to New Wave, their songs have always offered listeners the courage to stick it to anyone who makes you feel small. This attitude was likely born of necessity: Williams came of age as a rare woman in a male-dominated emo scene full of overt misogyny and sexual violence, and was forced to build a tough exoskeleton around herself. “Anger was my medium for a long time,” Williams told Vulture last year. “When it comes to what’s underneath that anger, that shit is so scary.” Now 32, the woman who once declared that “Second chances, they don’t ever matter, people never change” is prioritizing softness, acceptance, and resiliency, as heard on her two recent solo albums.

At this point, Williams’ arc offers both a cautionary tale and a blueprint for young women aspiring to enter a music industry that has evolved over the last 15 years but is still plagued by sexist double standards. For Williams’ part, after being the only girl on tour for so long, she has made a point of inviting like-minded female and LGBTQ+ artists including Jay Som and Julien Baker on the road with Paramore.

Beyond issues of representation, Williams has also been honest about her experience in the industry and the ways we grow and change as humans. When Billie Eilish recently shared “Your Power,” a ballad that the 19-year-old singer told British Vogue was “an open letter to people who take advantage—mostly men,” Williams offered a note of support. “i wish i’d heard billie’s newest song when i was 19,” she tweeted. “powerful message for a young and brilliantly talented young person to sing about the grooming that takes place every day especially within creative industries. and she speaks on it with grace. anyway, the song rules.”

Many of these young artists are beginning their careers from a place of relative vulnerability that was simply not available to Williams, who once compared playing at Warped Tour to being “thrown to the wolves.” Norwegian singer-songwriter and producer Marie Ulven, aka girl in red, and Moriondo dig into the intimate details of their lives—queerness, mental health, and heartache—with nonchalant bluntness. On “Serotonin,” girl in red bounces between glitchy noise and sparkly synths all while describing the intrusive thoughts she tries to swat away; Moriondo’s recent album Blood Bunny, released via Paramore’s longtime label Fueled By Ramen, includes bursts of shout-along pop-punk and a catchy little ditty called “I Eat Boys.” “Yeah, I get them gory,” Moriondo lilts on the song, “You can’t control me, ’cause I wrote this story.” It sounds like yet another song Williams could have found solace in as a teenager.

Chosen family has always been a cornerstone idea behind Paramore: The band itself formed amid the fracture of Williams’ own family unit, and she has spoken about the struggle to keep the group together through myriad lineup changes. Williams’ dogged insistence on finding community through music is one reason why Paramore’s music feels like shelter for outcasts. Willow recently disclosed that she was bullied in school for listening to Paramore and My Chemical Romance, cruelty that was exacerbated by emo’s overwhelming whiteness. (There have been many great pieces about the special relationship between Paramore and their Black fans that have pointed to the band’s emphasis on community, faith, and progressive identity politics.) Willow continued to say that she hopes her presence as a young Black woman playing loud guitar music will be a beacon for anyone who feels excluded by emo or hard rock: “It’s a real thing, you’re not alone. You’re not the only Black girl who wishes she could flip her hair to the side, and wear black eyeliner.”

The evolution of Paramore and their influence can perhaps best be heard in Olivia Rodrigo’s “good 4 u.” The song strongly evokes Paramore’s 2007 hit “Misery Business,” which Williams co-wrote when she was 17. In 2018, though, the band announced they would no longer play the song live because of its internalized sexism: With lines like, “Once a whore, you’re nothing more,” it reflects a mindset of a scene (and a culture) that slut-shamed and pit women against each other. But while “Misery Business” aims its venom at the girl Williams believes stole her boyfriend, “good 4 u” places blame on the dude who has moved on suspiciously easily. When Rodrigo sings, “Well screw that and screw you/You will never have to hurt the way you know that I do,” she’s directly addressing the person who broke her heart, not creating collateral damage.

“I’m hoping that whatever I do, if I do anything in this life, is that I impact anyone, especially young girls, in some way,” Williams once said. Now, more than ever, that ambition is flourishing.