Hayley Williams Posts Paramore Throwback Pic, but What Does It Mean?
Hayley Williams returned to social media on Monday (April 4) by posting a throwback photo of her band Paramore on Instagram.
The sepia-toned image contained no caption or further information. But it's the first post the Paramore singer and solo artist has made on the photo-sharing social network since she announced she was quitting social media six months ago.
See the photo down toward the bottom of this page.
Paramore shared the same pic across their official social media outlets this week, adding on Twitter, "happy 20th birthday to our friendship."
The circa 2007 image — it shows a young Williams alongside drummer Zac Farro and (seemingly) multi-instrumentalist Taylor York; both still back her in Paramore — is sure to elicit wistful memories for pop-punk and emo fans.
But why has the singer shared it now?
Perhaps the image hints at coming activity from Paramore. After all, last year, Williams teased the band's return in 2022. But that doesn't explain her decision to come back to social media after making a statement last October underscoring her desire to leave.
At that time, Williams said in a post that's no longer available, "I’ve carefully considered this decision for almost a year now." (Currently, only the throwback pic shows on her page.)
She continued, "Now I know for sure that my desire to move away from personal accounts … is based on nothing more than my interest in keeping a boundary between a public and a private life… and wanting to spend more time looking up and out, rather than down."
Williams added, "I've been on the internet, and more specifically social media since I was 15. Maybe even younger. It started with blog sites, then MySpace, then Paramore became a thing and social media wasn't just even for my own personal use anymore, but it was part of the job. It has been a useful and mostly beautiful part of the job. I crave connection and the internet is a pretty good tool for that when it's not tearing us apart. The thing is, connection is and always will be a part of my job."
It appears the musician has rethought her position, however — and possibly on the eve of new Paramore material. The group last released After Laughter in 2017; Williams went solo with Petals for Armor in 2020 and Flowers for Vases/Descansos the following year.