Taylor Swift’s opening act in Europe: Where do you know the band Paramore from?

The anticipation for Taylor Swift’s (34) concerts in Germany is enormous: Today, Wednesday (July 17), the US pop star will play his first of three shows in Gelsenkirchen. As with all concerts in the European leg of the “Eras Tour”, Paramore will be the opening act on stage here too – an alternative rock band from the US state of Tennessee, Taylor Swift’s long-time adopted home.

Paramore hit the nerve of the times in the 2000s

Paramore has been around for 20 years: Frontwoman Hayley Williams (35) founded the band in 2004 at the age of 15, together with brothers Josh and Zac Farro and bassist Jeremy Davis. The band has released six studio albums since then. Paramore made their breakthrough in their teens with their first album “All We Know Is Falling” in 2005. Their sound, a mixture of alternative rock, pop punk and emo, has earned them a loyal fan base.

Especially in the 2000s, Williams and co. hit the nerve of the times with their music, capturing the attitude to life of an entire generation. In their albums “Riot!” (2007) and “Brand New Eyes” (2009), the band addressed topics that particularly affected teenagers and young adults: the search for identity, heartbreak, friendship and the challenges of becoming an adult. At the same time, their sound fit perfectly with the emo and pop punk trend that shaped the music world at that time.

One of Paramore’s most famous singles is “Decode” from 2008 – the song was part of the soundtrack of the vampire film “Twilight” and was in the charts in Germany for nine weeks. The band removed one of their most popular songs – “Misery Business” from 2007 – from their live repertoire a few years ago because some of the lyrics were criticized as misogynistic. Williams later changed the lyrics, and the song has been part of the setlist again since 2022.

Of the original line-up, after several changes, only drummer Zac Farro is currently on board alongside Hayley Williams, as well as guitarist Taylor York, a member of the band since 2007. Williams herself is “like a soap opera”. The group’s current album, “This Is Why”, was released in February 2023 and climbed to number 6 in the album charts in Germany, number one in the UK and second in the US.

Taylor Swift and Paramore have a long friendship

The fact that Taylor Swift chose Paramore as the opening act for her European concerts should come as no surprise to many Swifties. The singer and the band share a similar fan base. Williams also appeared in Swift’s music video for “Bad Blood” in 2015. In addition, Swift released a song with Williams just last year: “Castles Crumbling”, which the singer originally wrote for her album “Speak Now” in 2010 but never released. In 2023, it was released as the “From the Vault” track on her “Taylor’s Version” of the album. On the second night of their London concerts, the two performed the song.

The two singers are said to have met at the 2008 Grammy Awards, when they competed against each other in the “Best New Artist” category and both lost to the now deceased Amy Winehouse (1983-2011). They were finally introduced to each other at the after-show party of the awards show.

Hayley Williams is also known from other solo projects: One of her most famous songs is her collaboration with rapper BoB from 2010, “Airplanes”. The song stayed in the German single charts for 25 weeks and is still a radio classic today. In 2013, the singer was featured in the song “Stay the Night” by German-Russian EDM musician Zedd (34); the song stayed in the German single charts for 19 weeks.

Paramore has been seen as the opening act at all of Taylor Swift’s European concerts – from Paris to London to Milan. “Swifties” can also look forward to around 45 minutes of the band’s program at the three shows in Gelsenkirchen from July 17 to 19, in Hamburg on July 23 and 24, and in Munich on July 27 and 28.