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It was a break, not a breakup. But the way the screaming, flailing fans — ranging from teens to those teetering on the brink of middle age — at New York’s sold-out Beacon Theatre are reacting to frontwoman Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro ripping through their spiky new single, “This Is Why,” you’d think Paramore had just risen from the dead.
“It’s funny — everyone always thinks we’ve broken up,” Williams says. It’s a week before the Nov. 13, 2022, Beacon show, and the members of the trailblazing pop-punk band are seated on shabby vintage chairs in an old house in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park on a sunny afternoon. “It’s always like, ‘Will they or won’t they come back?’ ”
“Love to keep ’em guessing,” Farro quips.
“It surprises us every time,” adds York.
“At this point, I don’t understand how we’re still doing it,” Williams continues. “Because it just feels like against all odds every single time — which, honestly, I feel like we’re the most annoying band in the world because it’s always like, ‘Oh, we overcame this, and now we’re making this album.’ ”
Williams, 34; Farro, 32; and York, 33, met as kids with musical ambitions and Christian roots in Franklin, Tenn. Over the next two decades, as Paramore, they released five albums and survived internal band drama, from lineup changes to lawsuits, any of which could have sounded the death knell. But the group’s sixth album, This Is Why — a tight, post-punk juggernaut that zeroes in on pandemic-fueled anxieties, scheduled for release Feb. 10 — marks the first time the lineup has been consistent between two albums, as well as the end of its contract with Atlantic Records, the only label the band has ever known.
“It feels surreal,” York says.
Read the full Billboard cover story, written by Christine Werthman, here.
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Over her 40-plus-year career, Madonna has gone on a steady 11 tours, so what is it about her just-announced 12th trek — The Celebration Tour — that is creating so much buzz?
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Well, for one, she’s promising an all-hits setlist – which for Madonna takes some narrowing down, given her 38 Billboard Hot 100 top 10s and 50 Dance Club Songs No. 1s. And while she’s played a lot of her hits in concert before, as far as we know, this is the first time she’s not touring around a new album — so she truly only has her back catalog to choose from.
On the new Billboard Pop Shop Podcast, Katie peppers Madonna superfan Keith with questions about the buzzy new global tour — like what lesser-known nuggets are fans dying to hear? And why now for this retrospective tour? Listen to the latest episode now:
Also on the show, we’ve got chart news on how SZA’s SOS is unstoppable at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, notching a fifth straight week atop the tally, while Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” captures an eighth week at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, making it the Swift song with the most weeks at No. 1. Plus, Zach Bryan’s slow-burn hit single “Something in the Orange” reaches the Hot 100’s top 10 more than eight months after its release.
The Billboard Pop Shop Podcast is your one-stop shop for all things pop on Billboard‘s weekly charts. You can always count on a lively discussion about the latest pop news, fun chart stats and stories, new music, and guest interviews with music stars and folks from the world of pop. Casual pop fans and chart junkies can hear Billboard‘s executive digital director, West Coast, Katie Atkinson and Billboard’s senior director of charts Keith Caulfield every week on the podcast, which can be streamed on Billboard.com or downloaded in Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast provider. (Click here to listen to the previous edition of the show on Billboard.com.)
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