Hayley Williams of Paramore has revealed that she turned down a collaboration with emo-rap pioneer Lil Uzi Vert as she feared it would project her to an undesirable echelon of fame.
Williams recently appeared on Zane Lowe’s Apple Music show via Facetime to promote her latest Petals for Armor solo project. In the interview, she delved into her experience with being asked to collaborate with other musicians.
“This is so, so random,” Williams behan “But I get asked to do like features on country songs sometimes. I’m no hater of country music. I grew up very young in Mississippi on Shania Twain and Dixie Chicks. I’m pretty sure Jason Aldean asked me to sing on one of his songs.
“I remember too Uzi asking me to do some stuff with him, and I know that fans are going to be so pissed at me for saying this, but I literally wrote him back on Instagram and I was like, ‘Buddy, I love you so much, but I don’t want to be that famous,’
“I told him like we were getting ready to take a break. I obviously had a lot of issues going on that no-one really knew about and I was like, ‘Bro, I just need to disappear. I don’t want to be that kind of a famous person.’ Because that is… He’s like a big artist, man. My stepbrother is obsessed with them. He was pissed when I told him the story.”
Whilst a Hayley Williams collaboration with our king Lil Uzi will probably not manifest itself anytime soon, we can all bask in the glory of Hayley’s latest collaboration with folk supergroup boygenius.
Last month, Williams unveiled the first single off part II of her Petals for Armor record, ‘Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris’. The song featured backing harmonies from the trio of Phoebe Bridgers, Lucy Dacus and Julien Baker. You can listen to it in all its infinite glory below.
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Listen: Hayley Williams – ‘Roses/Lotus/Violet/Iris’
