Bands frequently represent unity in music, but disagreements can arise behind the scenes. When former guitarist Josh Farro made significant claims against Hayley Williams, revealing the inner workings of the band, the band went through a similar process. The Farro brothers, Josh and Zac, left Paramore in December 2010, according to the band’s website. Josh later sent a resignation letter on his Blogger account, claiming: “Hayley’s manager would tell the band to meet in the hotel lobby at a certain time, but he and Hayley would not appear for hours.” We discovered that they had been meeting with record label executives all morning without us, which was strange given that we weren’t just a solo artist, but a band.”
He continued, noting how they had no idea what was going on when they were younger: “The band was completely in the dark the entire time. After numerous discussions between Hayley, her manager, and the labels, Atlantic Records chose to sign her. We couldn’t understand why Hayley was the only one signing the contract when we were told this was a ‘band,’ but we were too young to understand. We had a signing party for Hayley before we knew it.”
Farro went on to add that Williams’ managers and parents controlled her actions and decisions and encouraged her to go solo: “Hayley’s father… would constantly threaten to ‘pull the plug’ on the entire band if we complained about anything, implying that we were hired guns and Hayley was the true artist when, in fact, we were both members of the band.” We’ve always been regarded as second-class citizens to Hayley. It’s clear how her family feels about things.”
Later, in a 2013 interview with HelloGiggles, Hayley was questioned about the difficulties she encountered when the Farro brothers quit the band and how they managed to stay together as a band. She responded: “The first few months of going through that were a nightmare, especially when the press outlets got a hold of the story and the blog posts and stuff.” I couldn’t leave my Franklin home without running into a million people I knew who thought they knew the narrative better than I did.”
She said, outlining the process following the split: “It was awful – there was nothing enjoyable about this period of our lives.” We did, once again, have to learn how to get out of our own way, and once we did, there was no cause to be angry or upset.” Drummer Zac Farro returned to Paramore in 2017 after a seven-year absence. Josh, on the other hand, has continued to make music with Novel American and his solo project, Farro.
