Paramore made history at the 66th Annual Grammy Awards — and they were surprised to learn that their win was groundbreaking.
Though they didn’t attend the Sunday, February 4, awards show, the group — Hayley Williams, Zac Farro and Taylor York — ended the night with two more Grammys. Their 2023 album, This Is Why, won Best Rock Album, and the title track won the Best Alternative Music Performance award. These accolades marked Paramore’s second and third Grammy wins after they took home the trophy forBest Rock Song in 2015 for “Ain’t It Fun.”
The band responded to their wins one day later with a message shared via the band’s Instagram Story. “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,” the Monday, February 5, message began. After acknowledging their absence at the show, Paramore noted the significance of their wins.
“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,” they wrote. “Ridiculous, yet true! It’s an honor for [us] to be a small but constant reminder for people to keep pushing these rock and alternative spaces to be more inclusive.”
The band also acknowledged that This Is Why was their last album on Atlantic Records and marked the closing of a chapter in their history. “To finish anything well is something to be proud of,” the group wrote on Monday. “Thank you to anyone who supported the ethos of Paramore as much as the music.”
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Paramore caused a stir at the start of the year, pulling out of iHeartRadio’s ALTer EGO concert on January 5. Less than two weeks later, they dropped out of Vive Latino, Festival Estéreo Picnic and Lollapalooza Brazil. Amid the increased scrutiny over these cancellations, fans noticed that the band had scrubbed their social media and website clean.
While some observers speculated about a possible breakup, Variety reported that the changes were due to the end of Paramore’s 20-year deal with Atlantic. The publication reported that the 2003 contract was actually a solo “360 deal” for Williams, which saw the label take a portion of the revenue generated by albums, merchandise, concert tickets and more in exchange for more significant support.
Zac and his brother, Josh Farro, left Paramore in 2010, citing the deal and the label’s focus on Williams (and not the entire band) as one reason for their exit. Zac rejoined Paramore in 2017.
Women dominated the rock, metal and alternative categories at the 2024 Grammys. Boygenius won Best Alternative Music Album for The Record as well as Best Rock Performance and Best Rock Song for “Not Strong Enough.” The only success for male artists was in the Best Metal Performance category, which Metallica won for “72 Seasons.”
