The opening night of the Eras Tour at State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Friday night featured the performance by Paramore before Taylor Swift took the stage. The rock group played a number of hits, including “This is Why” and “Decode.”
Lead singer Hayley Williams of the rock group spoke about her first contact with Taylor Swift during their performance. The performer claimed that when she was a teenager, she performed at the Grammy Awards as the superstar act.
In a clip shared by Variety, Williams said she first saw Taylor perform at the Grammy Awards when she was still a teenager.
“I was like 18 at the time, and it felt kind of lonely, to be that young and to be doing things, like the Grammys and all that.,” Williams said.
“And I met someone as I was leaving. And she said to me, ‘My daughter, she just played, she’s just getting started and she doesn’t really know anybody in the business. And I just really want her to be around people her age that are doing the same thing, and so I got her number.”
Williams was alluding to Andrea Taylor, Taylor’s mother. The vocalist for Paramore continued by saying that she later made the decision to contact Swift.
“Because I’m like, the shyest freak when I’m not on stage, I did not text [Taylor] until a certain VMAs scandal,” Williams said “That was the first time that I felt like I have to reach out, because this person is really cool and did not deserve that. So around that time is when I got to know Taylor Swift. And the guys and I have been able to watch her as we’ve been playing shows and touring the world, we’ve got to watch her trajectory. And I’m sure you know this, because you’re here tonight, so you obviously get it, but there are moments when I talk to people and I’m like ‘I am not sure that you get how f*cking incredible this artist is.’”
WATCH Paramore performing live at Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’! #TSTheErasTour
🚨| Paramore performing live at Taylor Swift’s ‘The Eras Tour’! #TSTheErasTour pic.twitter.com/XP5p5cNmoF
— The Eras Tour (@tswifterastour) March 18, 2023
Before the tour Taylor also revealed how super honored she was that the Paramore rock band will be joining her on tour in the Billboard cover story, describing it as “such an honour.”
“Having Paramore join me on tour is such an honour,” Swift said.
“We came up alongside each other as Nashville teenagers writing our own music, so it feels insanely special to kick off the tour together nearly two decades later,” added the Anti-Hero hitmaker.
“I just remember being constantly floored and inspired by their writing, originality and artistic integrity. Hayley is such a riveting performer because she’s so multifaceted — bold and playful and ferocious and completely in command. It’s a dream come true to join forces like this.”
During the interview, the Let it Rain crooner shared that Swift aspired to be like Carole King, who is one of the most successful and admired female songwriter in the history of pop music.
“When we were 19, [Swift] told me — she was a country singer at that point — that she wanted to be like Carole King,” Williams recalled.
“And I was like, ‘Whoa, that’s a crazy thing to say,’ you know? Because we were kids. And I’ll be damned, this woman, she’s crossing genres and bleeding over into other aspects of pop culture, and she’s helping to shape it at the very least.”
Swift’s respect for the legendary singer-songwriter is well known: According to People Magazine, in 2021, she opened the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction ceremony with a rendition of the timeless Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow? as an homage to King, who was a member of the inductee class.
Taylor Swift says it’s an ‘honour’ to have Paramore join her Eras Tour
Checkout Paramore’s complete set list below:
1. This Is Why
2. Hard Times
3. That’s What You Get
4. Decode
5. The Only Exception
6. Still Into You
7. Rose-Colored Boy
8. Misery Business
9. Ain’t It Fun
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