Paramore’s Hayley Williams lashes out at Donald Trump during iHeartRadio Festival set

21 September, 2024

Paramore’s Hayley Williams has lashed out at Donald Trump during the band’s set at the iHeartRadio Music Festival – check out the footage below.

The group played a five-song set at Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena on Friday (September 20), and during a performance of ‘Big Man, Little Dignity’, Williams seized the moment, leaning into the camera to issue a rallying cry against the former president.

“Project 2025 is Donald Trump’s playbook for controlling and punishing women, poor people, people of colour, and the LGBTQ community,” she said.

“It is time for all Americans to band together and to finally defeat the Trump agenda. And the only way to do that is by confronting him at the polls. Do you want to live in a dictatorship? Well, show up and vote.”

Williams was dressed in an outfit inspired by a Debbie Harry look from 1979 at the festival, and fittingly the band incorporated a snippet of ‘Heart Of Glass’ during their set opener ‘Hard Times’. The band also played ‘The Only Exception’, ‘Ain’t It Fun’ and their recent cover of Talking Heads’ ‘Burning Down The House’.

The band’s political intervention came on the day that Trump, who is fighting the 2024 presidential election for the Republicans against Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris, shared a fake image of his opponent in a photograph alongside Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs.

Trump has also falsely claimed Taylor Swift’s endorsement with a series of AI-generated posts, later denying any involvement in the posts’ creation. Swift has subsequently publicly endorsed Harris, leading to a reported 500 per cent increase in voter registration.

Earlier this week, Williams confirmed that Paramore had begun working on their follow-up to 2023’s ‘This Is Why’. The singer revealed the band had recorded some demos that “really surprised” her, with particular influence taken from the Bjork-fronted band The Sugarcubes.

She also discussed the potential for another solo record to follow up 2020’s ‘Petals For Armor’ and 2021’s ‘Flowers for Vases/Descansos’, saying she “doesn’t feel done with that at all”.

In other news, Paramore recently reflected on their time opening for Swift on the ‘Eras’ tour.

“Thank you for asking us to be a part of such an incredible moment in your life and career,” they said on social media. “We loved playing for the Swifties, we loved watching you tell your life story through this show. And we truly fell in love with your whole crew. Congrats on one more leg of this giant, history making tour. We love you! – Paramore,” read the photo’s accompanying caption.”

Williams even specifically said that the ‘Eras’ tour had “completely changed” her relationship with Paramore’s 2009 song ‘The Only Exception’.

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