Paramore Reflects On Historic Grammy Win And Calls For More Inclusion
The band did not show up at the ceremony, but they revealed on social media through two posts that they were following the awards on TV, and in the first photo they had a pair of cakes prepared no matter the outcome. The group from Tennessee won the award for their 2023 album ‘This Is Why’, defeating Foo Fighters‘ ‘But Here We Are’, Greta Van Fleet‘s ‘Starcatcher’, Metallica’s ’72 Seasons’ and Queens of the Stone Age’s ‘In Times New Roman’. Paramore became the first band with a female lead singer to receive the award, which solo female artists Alanis Morrissette and Sheryl Crow had won in the ’90s before.
In another post, the group shared on Instagram: “First off, infinite thanks to our fans, our team, and the voting academy for making ‘This Is Why’ such a moment for us, 20 years into our career.” They also said that they had a good time “sitting together in Zac’s living room, dressed in our regular clothes.” Regarding their historic achievement, Paramore said: “Turns out, our win for Best Rock Album was a historic feat as we are the first female-fronted band to ever take home a trophy for this category. Ridiculous yet true! It’s an honor for Paramore to be a small but constant reminder for people to keep pushing these rock and alternative spaces to be more inclusive.”
The trio – made up of Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro – removed all posts and pictures from social media pages a month ago, while their official website showed a 404 error message. This happened after the band expressed a “level of uncertainty” about their future, after finishing their ‘This Is Why’ tour and fulfilling their commitments to their label, Atlantic.
The band also spoke about their departure from Atlantic, writing in their statement: “Some of you will know that ‘This Is Why’ was our last album for our deal with Atlantic Records. To end anything well is something to be proud of. Thank you to anyone who supported the ethos of Paramore as much as the music.” Lately, Paramore released their cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’ as part of a forthcoming Talking Heads tribute album, featuring Lorde, The National, Girl In Red and more. The project was revealed last month when A24 announced that the album was coming soon, with 16 artists offering their own versions of Talking Heads classics.