Hayley Williams Clears the Air on Paramore Break

If you were worried Paramore had played their last note, Hayley Williams wants you to relax. The band’s fiery frontwoman is taking some time for herself — but she’s not saying goodbye to the group that made her a rock icon.

In a new interview with The Face published Thursday, Sept. 4, Williams revealed the status of the pop punk band and its future.

“Do we ever know where we’re at?!” Williams said of Paramore. “We always take huge breaks.”

Williams explained that part of Paramore’s rhythm has always been about stepping back to process life before diving into the next record.

“In order for us to metabolize s--- that we go through as people, it takes the amount of time it takes between albums,” she said.

And even though she just dropped a new solo project, Williams shut down any idea that Paramore had split.

“There are no better musicians in the world than Zac [Farro] and Taylor [York],” Williams said. “There are no better performers than [the touring musicians affectionately known as the] Parafour. It’s just magic, man.”

Earlier this summer, Williams gave fans a surprise gift: 17 singles she once shared online and deleted. On Aug. 28, she officially released them as an album titled Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.

The new project is personal, and Williams admitted part of going solo is about building strength in herself.

“It’s also really important for me to strengthen other muscles and these parts of myself that I deflated because I was scared that people were going to notice me too much,” she said.

Fans shouldn’t panic. Paramore’s latest album, This Is Why, dropped in 2023, and they even followed it with a fresh version called Re: This Is Why.

So yes, Paramore is catching its breath. But if Hayley Williams’ words are any clue, the band’s story is far from over.