Hayley Williams Shares Health Update Following Paramore Concert Postponements: ‘A Week of Misery’
Hayley Williams is sharing an update on her health after rescheduling a handful of Paramore concerts due to an illness.
The 34-year-old singer-songwriter took to her Instagram Story on Friday (July 28) to pen an emotional letter to fans explaining why her band was recently forced to postpone four live dates in the United States.
“As you know, we postponed a handful of dates due to illness. We kick back up Saturday in Tulsa (!!!) after a week of misery, sadness, and bellyfuls of antibiotics and steroids,” Williams wrote, referring to the group’s July 29 concert at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Okla. “For the record, we did not have food poisoning or a band-wide s— fest.”
Last Saturday (July 22), Paramore postponed their concert at San Francisco’s Chase Center just hours before it was slated to take place. The group later postponed additional dates in Seattle, Portland and Salt Late City due to an “illness within the touring party.” All of the concerts have been rescheduled for August.
“In all seriousness, this past week has been really tough,” the “Ain’t It Fun” singer continued in her post. “Nobody would know this but I started getting sick in Houston (non contagious) and muscled my way all the way through LA. Adrenaline is a wonder! But by the time the excitement and the nerves from all the LA shenanigans wore off, my body just gave out.”
Williams noted that touring has grown increasingly difficult with age.
“Touring is different at 34 than it was at 16, when leaving home felt like the greatest escape,” she wrote. “At this age, I have my own home life, a community, a dog, my sisters and the rest of my family who are getting older… Alf and I go on neighborhood walks with my elderly neighbor and her dog. It’s quite a lot to leave behind.”
The singer-songwriter continued, “But then, we get on stage for 2 hours and I see the world through this joyous, hopeful and wide-open lens. It’s a view I simply cannot get from home. And it’s very healing — especially as obsessed and addicted to the daily doom-scroll of local, national, and global news as I am.”
Williams concluded her post on an upbeat note, writing, “This tour has done my heart a lot of good. I couldn’t be more grateful for the faces I see the first few seconds after we walk onstage during the intro. Those people revive me, nightly.”
Paramore is touring in support of their sixth album, This Is Why, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 in February. After their North American tour wraps on Aug. 13 in Salt Lake, the group will team up with Taylor Swift again for the European leg of her Eras Tour, which launches on May 9, 2024.
See Williams’ health update to fans in a fan-captured screenshot here.
Mitchell Peters
Billboard