Hayley Williams has named Paramore as one of the few bands with female members on Spotify’s latest list of “most-streamed rock artists of all time” and called for improved inclusion and diversity on the charts.
The 35-year-old singer-songwriter took to Instagram Stories on Tuesday to share her thoughts on the news that Paramore recently claimed the 20th spot among the most-streamed rock artists of all time on Spotify, beating out U2.
A screenshot of the list posted by Paramore’s fan page on X, formerly Twitter, shows Queen, The Beatles, Arctic Monkeys and Red Hot Chili Peppers topping the chart. Aside from Paramore, Fleetwood Mac is the only other act with a female member, taking the 10th spot out of the 20 artists listed.
Paramore has broken into Spotify’s Top 20 most-streamed rock artists of all time, surpassing U2. pic.twitter.com/faEozNgszl
— Paramore Update (@Pcharts) August 4, 2024
In his now-deleted Instagram story — which was reposted by Pop Crave on X — Williams shared a screenshot of a tweet from his podcast “The State of the Scene” about Paramore’s achievement.
Williams responded to the news by writing: “We are [one] only [two] bands with women in the Top 20 of all time. I’m incredibly honored, of course, but in my lifetime, I hope to see more women, more LGBTQ+ and black/brown talent on this list.”
The “Ain’t It Fun” singer added, “Also, ‘rock’ is funny… Are Paramore a rock band or are they 100% pop? What? [the f**k] us?”
Hayley Williams reacts to Paramore becoming one of the 20 most streamed rock artists:
“I’m incredibly honored but I hope to see more women, more LGBTQ+ and black/brown talent on this list in my lifetime. ‘rock’ is funny too… Is Paramore a rock band or not 100% pop?” photo.twitter.com/a042Bw8bn4
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) August 6, 2024
Williams also shared her experience meeting Fleetwood Mac’s Stevie Nicks. Describing the encounter, she said the iconic singer lived up to all her expectations and more.
According to The Line of Best Fit, Williams said, “There’s no world where I can match their magic, but she and Christine [McVie] makes me feel proud to be considered a woman in rock music.”
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Earlier this year, they bumped into each other when Paramore, Nicks and Taylor Swift spent a night out in Dublin after Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour” shows in the city.
This isn’t the first issue regarding female representation in the rock industry that Williams has pointed out.
In 2020, Williams spoke about the challenges she faced after Paramore underwent significant lineup changes following the departure of Zac and Josh Farro.
“I find it interesting that bands that we love that have gone through lineup changes — even bands that haven’t — are honest about how much they hate each other, and you never doubt their loyalty,” she told Vulture. “You never think, ‘Oh, Thom Yorke must be the fucking Hitler of Radiohead.’ He could be an asshole.”
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