Hayley Williams credits music and friendship with her survival
Paramore frontwoman Haley Williams says she only “physically and emotionally survived” hardships because of “music and because of [her] friendships” in an interview with The Tennessean ahead of the band’s Art + Friends event.
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This Friday’s (Sept. 7) one-off Art + Friends concert was organized by Williams and Paramore to celebrate their hometown of Nashville’s buzzing arts scene. The group will headline among sets from Bully, COIN, Canon Blue and more.
But the singer remembers a time when she wasn’t doing much celebrating. Looking back on a sudden realization that occurred during the PARAHOY! cruise, Williams says, arriving on the heels of crises, it signaled a profound conclusion.
“I got on stage and I really was nervous about what to say,” she recalls, adding that “Jeremy [Davis, former bassist] wasn’t in the band anymore” and she had been “going through what would eventually become a divorce.
“I just realized, in that moment up on stage, the only reason I had physically and emotionally survived was because of music and because of my friendships. It kind of remained a very heavy truth for me the next few years.”
Williams’ honest appraisal of her 2017 separation from New Found Glory guitarist (and Shai Hulud vocalist) Chad Gilbert and 2015 split with bandmate Davis offers a fresh perspective on the personal and professional turning points that drove the band’s revived creativity on last year’s After Laughter.
What do you think of Williams’ blunt assessment of music and friendship’s role in her emotional well-being? Will you be attending Friday’s Art + Friends event in Tennessee? Sound off in the comments section, down below!
