We head down to Manchester Academy to meet the long queue outside Hayley Williams' sold out show to find out who her fans are, why they love her so much, and what they'd do for their own bachelorette party...
Last week, Hayley Williams brought her Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party tour to the UK, selling out venues up and down the country, bringing her incredible 5/5-rated album to thousands of fans who connect with the Paramore singer's words on a deep, emotional level. These weren't just concerts, these were exorcisms, riots, parties and healing sessions all rolled into one magnificent package.
But who are Hayley Williams fans, and why does she mean so much to so many? We headed to the singer's sold-out show at Manchester Academy to find out.
How long have you been a fan of Hayley?
"It's about 17 years now. I think I first found Paramore when I was just starting out in secondary school and they've been my baby since."
How did you get into them?
"My sibling was a big fan and I had never really listened to much rock music before. It started off with a bit of Iron Maiden and stuff and then I was like, 'Oh, a female vocalist!' I thought that was so cool. So I just fell into it, really."
What's kept you listening to her?
"She's an icon. She's very powerful. I like the way she actually moves with the times too. Obviously Paramore's evolved quite a lot as they've gone on. But her solo stuff has also progressed a lot."
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"I think there's some sort of rawness to it. Like, she's very real about everything and very open about a lot of things, and also her lyrics. She knows exactly what she's doing."
How would you spend your bachelorette party?
"I would go to a Hayley show over and over."
What other bands do you listen to?
"I really like PVRIS and The Used. They're probably my big go-to ones."
What's your outfit today?
"I'm wearing some knock-off New Rocks. You know, they're a lot cheaper, and I can't afford that because these tickets cost a lot. I've got some yellow knee-highs too, and I've got a cut up Hayley Williams shirt. Oh, and the dinosaur earrings."
How long have you been a fan of Hayley?
"Since I was a child. I've enjoyed her music since forever, since Paramore."
Do you remember how you got into it?
"Probably when they played stuff on MTV and things like that. And the magazines, I always used to buy them and I'd find Hayley. Also maybe from Kerrang! TV."
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"The emotional complexity; I connect to it a lot. I'm quite an emotional person and everything that she describes within her relationships, or whatever phase of her life, I relate to on a deep level. And it makes me feel warm and happy inside. I really enjoy it."
What other bands do you listen to?
"I like everything. I've listened to a lot of Pierce The Veil, but to be honest most of my Spotify is Paramore. That's never gonna change. I like classic rock. I like YONAKA, Mötley Crüe, Tool, Slash, Ghost."
What's your outfit today?
"I'm wearing a skirt my best friend got for me, it sort of fits the vibe with the Hayley merch. And I'm wearing some jewellery from Vivienne Westwood."
At your bachelorette party, if you had one, what are you doing?
"I want to do something a bit wild, a bit of an adventure thing, like paintballing or skydiving? And maybe, like, having a karaoke night where we just get messy and stuff? Yeah, super drunk and confess our feelings."
How long have you been a fan of Hayley?
"Probably when I started actually listening to good music. I listened to the music my friends used to like, not that I actually liked. But then I found music I liked, started going to alternative clubs like The Key Club [in Leeds]."
Do you remember how you got into her music?
"I think it was at Key Club, they played Paramore there and I was like, 'Wait, what is this?!' I'd heard it before and liked it. I Shazammed it and I've been listening constantly since."
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"It makes my brain happy when I hear the music – I have ADHD, and it just makes my brain go happy. I don't know how else to describe it. Anytime I hear Paramore's music, or Hayley Williams', it's like, 'Whoa!' And also, hearing Hayley's voice makes my anxiety go away. At work I was banned from playing her music – I couldn't actually click it anymore. I don't work there anymore, but it got to the point where someone had blocked it because I played it so much. I had a go at them in the group chat."
What bands are you listening to?
"Honestly, constantly Paramore and Hayley Williams. That's never gonna stop. Panic! At The Disco, Pierce The Veil and Flyleaf which is a new one for me. My friend introduced me, they're really good. I didn't realise they're a Christian band and love Jesus. But it's a good band."
What are you wearing today?
"It's all from Vinted. I like matching my clothes – my belt and my shoelaces match in leopard print! It's all just vintage. The jewellery is all things people have bought for me. And my hair is dyed with Hayley's Good Dye Young!"
At your bachelorette party, if you had one, what are you doing?
"Getting really drunk with my friends and just sitting and drinking wine, eating really nice food. And obviously listening to Hayley. That's a non-negotiable. Making all my friends listen even if they don't like her, which most do luckily. I think they're just sick of hearing Parachute specifically because I don't stop playing it."
So how long have you been a fan of Hayley?
"Probably when I was like 13 or 14 when I got into Paramore."
Do you remember how you found their music?
"Flicking through music channels like Kerrang!, MTV, all that shit. And then when I was like 17 and started clubbing. Going to places like Satan's Hollow [in Manchester]. I heard it properly and I was like, 'Yeah, this is a bit of me.'"
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"She's a little bit of a misfit. She doesn't try to be like every other sort of celebrity – like Sabrina Carpenter or Rihanna or like, I don't know, Beyonce. She's just her own bad bitch and I love that. A little bit like me."
What other bands are you listening to?
"Electric Callboy are fucking mint at the minute. They've got the new album coming out and I've got tickets to see them in Manchester. I saw them earlier in the year at Ally Pally. It's a little bit of fucking techno, a little bit of metal, bit of screaming. It's awesome."
What's your outfit today?
"I'm wearing my ex's T-shirt cut in half – for real – and we're in a skirt from ASOS. And Converse."
At your bachelorette party, if you had one, what are you doing?
"I think we'd start sophisticated and we'd do some pottery – I'm a sophisticated girly. Maybe some tufting, we'd make some rugs. And then we'd get really drunk and end up in Vegas. Paid for by the husband."
How long have you been a fan of Hayley?
"Probably since early high school."
How did you find her music?
"I was into that scene – pop-punk and that type of thing – so probably through that. And also because of the song they did for The Sims in Simlish."
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"First is that she's genuinely one of the best vocalists I've ever heard, but also the songs. There are a lot I can connect to, like, The Only Exception – that was mine and my ex's song. It really brought us together and gave us a proper emotional connection. I connect even more so with some of her solo stuff."
What bands have you been listening to?
"Dance Gavin Dance and Hail The Sun. I saw Hail a couple of months ago and it was one of the best live experiences I've ever had. The vocals, the music, the people there. It was great."
What are you wearing today?
"The shirt is ASOS and I've got these flared jeans. And Doc Marten platforms."
At your bachelorette party, if you had one, what are you doing?
"Getting shitfaced with people – Hayley is invited, obviously."
How long have you been a Hayley Williams fan?
"I only started listening on the newest album, because Aloe (as seen below) asked me to go. I fell in love with it and here I am."
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"I'd just gone through a break-up when I started listening to her and I think it was one of the healthiest break-up albums I've ever heard. It was just really helpful at the time. Right place, right time."
How would you spend your bachelorette party?
"I'm definitely having a stripper, it always been my go-to. My friends would be there for a wild, crazy night out."
What other bands are you listening to?
"Noah Kahan is on my list at the moment; he's just released a new album. And weirdly, I've just got back into my One Direction phase. So old school One Direction."
What's your outfit today?
"I'm just wearing a little yellow slip dress thing with some New Rock sandals. However they are not weatherproof. I thought with them being sandals, they'd be great, but I'm slipping and sliding on them. I should have worn trainers but it's too late to go back now. Style over function, right?"
How long have you been a Hayley Williams fan?
"I was about 13. I started as a Paramore fan forever ago."
Do you remember how you found her music?
"Yes, it was a friend and she introduced me. I thought I didn't like it, nd then maybe six months to a year later, I was like, 'Oh yeah I'm vibing with this now'.
What is it about her music that you connect with?
"It's difficult to say. I kind of like how I've grown with the band and Hayley and her music; it matured as I was maturing and I quite like that."
How would you spend your bachelorette party?
"At home with a cup of tea, my cat, and my friends. Listening to Hayley."
What other bands have you been listening to?
"It's been this Hayley album for the last four months. Other acts I like are Hozier and a musician called Mk.gee. A bit of Megan Thee Stallion as well."
What's your outfit today?
"I went with a recent theme that Hayley's been doing where she's been matching her make-up with her undergarments. So I went with red pants and I've got some really old jorts and some Converse too. I made this chain myself."
How long have you both been into Hayley Williams?
Taylor: "Since, like, 2008. It's been quite a few years now."
What first got you into her music?
Dylan: "It's completely random, but Slipknot."
Taylor: "I remember Paramore did a cover for The Sims and that was probably the first time I heard them. Obviously Twilight too, like a lot of people. The second I heard that song coming up in the credits I was like, 'Who is this band! I need to know!' And no-one has topped it since."
What is it about her music that you connect with?
Taylor: "It's always just been relatable. I feel like every point in my life, she writes something and then it's like, 'Wow. I feel the exact same way.' We've grown up together and it's nice to see her getting better as well. Also when she's not feeling good, she doesn't care and just lets everyone know how she's feeling. I think I feel the same as her in quite a lot of the songs, so it's just nice to feel relatable, especially to someone you look up to so much. It's really special."
Dylan: "There's a lot of situations which she goes through that we go through too. It seems very down to earth, everything she sings about. And it's nice to listen to."
If you had a bachelorette party, what are you doing?
Taylor: "Probably a drag show. A huge, huge drag show. Probably themed on Paramore, Hayley Williams and all the c*ntiness she is."
Dylan: "I'm not really a party person. I'll stay at home, I'm very unsocial like that. Everyone comes to mine and watches old movies. I'm really into Burt Reynolds at the moment."
What other bands are you listening to?
Taylor: "A lot of Turnstile. I saw them in November and they were so, so good. I listen to Travis Scott as well, and just old-school emo.
Dylan: "I've been listening to Trivium a lot lately. Billy Talent as well. They get you in the mood. I just had to create a new playlist because I was on Spotify and I thought I'm sick of listening to the same songs now. So I've made a playlist of what I listened to when I was younger and that's when Billy Talent came up again."
What are your outfits today?
Taylor: "I got this shirt at the merch today. It's hot so I needed to be as comfortable as possible. I've got my jean shorts, I love these, and got my little charms."
Dylan: "A Topman shirt that I cut up, some Vans shorts, and I don't know what these socks are but they've got fire on them."
