December 27: Hayley Williams with Paramore & B.o.B ("Airplanes") is 25-years-old today.

 

 

 

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In 2002, when she was 13, Hayley Nichole Williams moved from her hometown, Meridian, Mississippi, to Franklin, Tennessee, where she met fellow band members Josh Farro and Zac Farro in school and she began taking vocal lessons. While still in school, she tried out for a local funk cover band called The Factory where she met Jeremy Davis.

Williams was discovered in 2003 while writing pop songs with top songwriters in Nashville, and signed a record deal with Atlantic Records.

The label's original plan for their new artist was to make her a solo pop artist but Williams objected, saying that she wanted to be part of a band and play alternative music. Atlantic decided to go along with her wishes and she then formed Paramore with Jeremy Davis and Josh and Zach Farro.

(Press album cover for direct link to Amazon):

In 2004, Paramore was created in Franklin, Tennessee with Hayley singing lead and playing keyboards, Josh Farro on lead guitar, Jeremy Davis on bass and Zac Farro on drums.

Prior to forming Paramore, the other future members of Paramore had been "edgy about the whole female thing" of having Williams as singer, but as they were good friends she began writing with them and eventually became a member.

The band has released three studio albums, All We Know Is Falling, Riot!, and Brand New Eyes as well as two live albums and three EPs. In June 2009, the band added Taylor York on rhythm guitar, although he had already been playing as a touring member with the band since 2007.

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 niche label in Fueled by Ramen.

In 2007, Williams appeared in the music video for "Kiss Me" by New Found Glory.

In the 2007 Kerrang! Readers' Poll she finished second to Evanescence's Amy Lee in the "Sexiest Female" category, going on to win the first place spot for "Sexiest Female" a year later in the 2008 poll, and again in the 2009 poll. She also appears as a playable character in the video game Guitar Hero World Tour.

Williams wrote and recorded the song "Teenagers,"  which was featured in the soundtrack for the film Jennifer's Body. After the release of "Teenagers,"  Williams stated that she had no plans to establish herself as a solo artist.

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. "Airplanes," later released as a single, peaked within the top ten in nineteen countries, including number one peak positions in the U.K. and New Zealand. (SEE below.)

Hayley has also went on stage during the Reading Festival 2010, and performed several songs with British hard rock band You Me At Six, including the band's latest hit single "Stay With Me."  The band's frontman Josh Franceschi has reportedly expressed a keen interest in collaborating with Hayley after the stage performance.

In April 2010, Hayley performed on  Hip-hop's artist B.o.B's, song "Airplanes (Part II)" along with Eminem.

In December 2010,  Josh and Zac Farro left the band, but the group expects to continue. Paramore will embark on a month-long tour of South American in February 2011.

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For more, visit the Paramore Website:

http://www.paramore.net/

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