Paramore's Hayley Williams Reportedly Dating Bandmate Taylor York

Paramore's Hayley Williams is reportedly dating her bandmate Taylor York after her divorce from Chad Gilbert.

Paramore’s Hayley Williams Reportedly Dating Bandmate Taylor York

“This Is Why” Paramore’s Hayley Williams seems to be in such a good mood lately!

Only one day after dropping the band’s first song in over five years, the “Misery Business” singer let slip that she is dating bandmate Taylor York ahead of the release of the band’s sixth album.

Paramore Hayley Williams Is Dating Guitarist Taylor York

In a new interview with The Guardian, Hayley, 33, and Taylor, 32, confirmed fan speculation that they are dating but declined to comment further, so it’s unclear how long the couple has been dating for. The guitarist first joined the band in 2007. At the time, the trio also includes Zac Farro on drums.

Hayley had previously dated his brother and former bandmate, Josh Farro, but the relationship soured and Josh quit the band in 2011. In 2016, Hayley married New Found Glory lead guitarist Chad Gilbert, but they called it quits after only a year.

In her 2020 solo album Petals for Armor, Hayley talked about being the “other woman” in the song “Dead Horse,” singing, “I got what I deserved / I was the other woman first / Other, others on the line / But I kept trying to make it work.”

However, on the same album, she released a song called “Crystal Clear,” which features the lyrics, “Friends or lovers, which will it be?” That same year, the “Simmer” singer told Pitchfork that the song was about “falling in love.”

“Despite my fear, my toughness, or any resistance to vulnerability, I couldn’t help falling in love,” she said at the time.

Paramore Opens Up On ‘This Is Why’ and Their Upcoming Sixth Album

Although the music video for the album’s first single “Tell Me Why,” wasn’t particularly action-packed, Hayley, 33, revealed that she was still feeling it.

“It’s not even a performance-heavy video and I’m still sore,” Hayley joked as Taylor elaborated a bit more on why the band decided to take an extended hiatus after releasing their fifth studio album, After Laughter.

“I wanted to explore some deeper parts of myself and figure out why we do this, how it happened,” Taylor said, revealing that he had quit drinking. “I’m a very introverted person and I have a passion and career that’s at odds with that. When it came back to doing [Paramore] again, I was able to say confidently, let’s do it. Zac and Hayley both needed to know that I wanted to do this.”

Zac Farro also opened up on what it was like not to have his older brother be in the band anymore. “You think when you’re a kid you’re gonna do everything together, and we did up to a certain point. Then we didn’t,” he said. “It’s definitely put a strain on the relationship but I actually think it’s been for the better recently.”

“You can’t really be mad at that person – that’s what they chose,” he added. “You have to choose if you’re going to show love. My heart goes out to him, too; I don’t want to sound demeaning, but some people’s worldview isn’t very acceptable online. You learn it the hard way sometimes.”

“This is another thing I don’t even really know where to put, but people think they are doing the right thing,” Taylor added. “A lot of people feel conviction; they aren’t speaking out because they’re trying to do the wrong thing.”

Hayley Williams Addresses ‘Misery Business’ Controversy

The band also revealed that the first song they wrote for their new album is about “exploring how you can’t control someone’s perception of you.”

“How it feels to accept there are moments in your life where you were the bad guy or you said something that you didn’t even really believe – Misery Business – and that comes to define you for some people,” Hayley explained. “What can you do except continue to grow and challenge yourself? The lightness that has come with that has been really cool.”

Hayley wrote the 2007 song when she was only 17. In 2018, she said that they would stop playing the song live. “Only now that we’ve felt lighter about the band, it’s like I don’t feel defined by that song,” Hayley explained, recalling how the band used to pick a fan from the crowd to come up on stage and sing it with them. “That’s what I feel defines our band, not these dramas and: ‘Is Hayley the perfect feminist?’ That was very heavy for a long time.”

The band’s sixth studio album will be released on February 10.