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With the recent news of Miley Cyrus’ No. 1 hit “Flowers” being accused of copying Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” we’re looking at 5 times No. 1 songs were accused of plagiarism or copyright infringement.
Tetris Kelly
With the recent news that Miley Cyrus’s Hot 100 No.1 hit “Flowers” has been accused of allegedly copying Bruno Mars’ “When I Was Your Man,” we’re taking a look back at five other Hot 100 No.1s that have been accused of plagiarism or copyright infringement. Olivia Rodrigo saw a ton of chart success in 2021 and earned her second No.1 on the Hot 100 that year with “good 4 u.”
But Olivia’s success didn’t come without controversy, as many thought, “good 4 u” sounded a lot like Paramore’s “Misery Business.”
Olivia retroactively gave writing credits to Paramore’s lead singer Hayley Williams and ex guitarist Josh Farro for “good 4 u.” The ‘Sour’ singer had already faced plagiarism accusations for her song “Deja Vu,” after mentioning how the “Deja Vu” bridge was inspired by Taylor Swift’s “Cruel Summer” while writing the song.
Olivia Rodrigo
But I wanted, like, the last bridge to kind of like, go crazy, and I love “Cruel Summer” It’s one of my favorite songs ever.
Tetris Kelly
Another Hot 100 No. 1 hit with plagiarism claims is Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts.” The song hit No. 1 in September 2019 nearly two years after its release, becoming Lizzo’s first No.1 on the chart. As the song rose up the charts in 2019 Lizzo was accused of plagiarizing the opening lyrics of the song by two different parties.
Watch the full video above!
Hayley Williams didn’t hold back her feelings about Donald Trump at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Festival.
On Friday (Sept. 20), the Paramore singer took a moment during the rock band’s performance of “Big Man, Little Integrity” as Las Vegas’ T-Mobile Arena to make it crystal clear how she feels about the Republican presidential nominee, who is running against Vice President Kamala Harris in the upcoming U.S. presidential election.
“Project 2025 is Donald Trump’s playbook for controlling and punishing women, poor people, people of color, and the LGBTQ+ community,” Williams said while looking into a camera that was livestreaming the event on Hulu. “It is time for all Americans to band together and 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 the dictatorship? Well, show up and vote.”
This isn’t the first time Williams has spoken out against Republican politicians over anti-LGBTQ+ laws. Last year, the “Ain’t It Fun” singer lashed out against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis during a performance at the Adjacent Music Festival in Atlantic City, N.J.
“If you vote for Ron DeSantis, you’re f—ing dead to me. Is that comfortable enough for anyone?” she told the crowd.
Earlier this year, Paramore also declined a Tennessee resolution honoring the group for its Grammy win after the state’s lawmakers blocked a similar resolution honoring Allison Russell.
“This week, Rep. Justin Jones put forth resolutions to honor my band, Paramore and another local-to-Nashville artist, Allison Russell, on our recent Grammy wins (as far as I can tell these resolutions have no legal weight to them. They’re like a big high five or when the whole restaurant joins in to sing you “Happy Birthday”),” Williams told The Tennesseean. “House Republicans only let the measure that acknowledged Paramore’s win pass. They blocked Allison’s.”
The Paramore singer added, “The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel. Myself, as well as Paramore, will continue to encourage young people to show up to vote with equality in mind.”
Paramore is celebrating their Eras tour trek with Taylor Swift.
The band took to their Instagram page on Monday (Aug. 26) to share appreciation for Swift, posting a photo in which frontwoman Hayley Williams and the band smile alongside the pop star, who is giving a thumbs up to the camera. “Thank you for asking us to be part of such an incredible moment in your life and career,” the caption reads. “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!”
See the post here.
Paramore opened for the “I Can Do It With a Broken Heart” superstar throughout her UK and European tour dates. Swift announced the news in July 2023 in the form of a post featuring a picture of the two old friends with their arms draped over each other’s shoulders. “Really can’t contain my excitement because… we’re adding 14 new shows to The Eras Tour,” she wrote. “And I get to travel the world doing shows with @paramore!! Hayley and I have been friends since we were teens in Nashville and now we get to frolic around the UK/Europe next summer??? I’m screaming???”
Most recently, Swift and Williams teamed up for “Castles Crumbling” off of 2023’s Speak Now (Taylor’s Version).
Back in April, Williams took to her Instagram Stories following the release of her longtime pal Swift’s 11th studio album, The Tortured Poets Department, to name the project as one of her favorites in honor of Record Store Day. “Had me from the storytelling alone, my friend,” Williams wrote alongside the cover art. “Every one of us knows this kind of grief! It’s so impressive to me how specific and colorful Taylor’s words get without ever losing the universal thread. I’m so ready to be tour-mates.”
Hayley Williams showed vampire love for Robert Pattinson from the stage at Wembley Stadium in London.
During Paramore‘s opening set at Taylor Swift‘s Eras Tour on Saturday (Aug. 17), Williams gave a shout-out to fellow support act Suki Waterhouse’s Twilight-starring fiancé and performed the band’s 2008 track “Decode.”
“Suki killed it earlier. But I would like to dedicate this next song to Mr. Waterhouse,” Williams is heard telling the crowd in a fan-captured clip on X (formerly Twitter). “He has the skin of a killer, Bella. It’s for you, Robert.”
“Decode” was featured on the teen vampire romances soundtrack, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The Grammy-nominated song — which also appeared on Paramore’s third album, Brand New Eyes, in 2009 — reached No. 33 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
It’s not clear if the 38-year-old actor, who shares a daughter with Waterhouse, was in attendance at Saturday night’s concert. The couple began dating in 2018 and got engaged in late 2023. Swift announced Waterhouse as one of her Eras Tour openers in London earlier this month.
“It feels like an honour to simply exist at the same time as @taylorswift, let alone be an opener for her on the biggest and best tour ever,” Waterhouse, who is close friends with Swift, wrote after the announcement. “A dream come true that I never want to wake up from. Playing at wembley stadium in my hometown!!”
Paramore’s performance of “Decode” wasn’t the only standout moment at Saturday’s Eras Tour stop. During the show, Swift delivered the tour’s live debut of Reputation‘s “I Did Something Bad” during the acoustic section of the show.
“The whole tour I’ve done 100s of songs, but I’ve not done one of my favorite ones,” teased Swift, guitar in hand in front of 92,000 people, “because I was waiting for the right crowd.”
The pop superstar’s surprise songs set also featured a piano mashup that pulled at the heartstrings: “My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys,” from The Tortured Poets Department, and “Coney Island,” from Evermore.
Swift has two more Wembley shows (Aug. 19-20) before wrapping her run of London tour dates.
Taylor Swift is rounding out her European leg of The Eras Tour, and she surprised fans with five new openers to her London shows. What do you think of her additional openers? Let us know in the comments below!
Tetris Kelly:
With only eight more European dates on her Eras Tour, Taylor Swift recruits five mostly British, new faces for the final London dates. Let’s break ‘em down. Paramore will continue opening The Eras Tour in Europe, but Swift announced she will have an additional opener for each London show. Taylor posted on IG,“I asked them to play on this tour because I love their music and think they’ll absolutely smash it in Wembley Stadium.” On August 15th, Sofia Isella will be the first to help warm up the crowd in Wembley. Sofia was born and raised in Los Angeles, currently living in Australia, is a classically trained violinist, and a self proclaimed “sl*t for words.” The next day, Holly Humberstone will take the stage. Holly was awarded the Brit Award for Rising Star back in 2021. Since then, she’s opened for Olivia Rodrigo and released her first full length album. The 17th will see Suki Waterhouse as the opener. In addition to being a singer, Suki is also a model, an actress, and a mom. Plus her new album, ‘Memoir of a Sparklemuffin,’ is out September 13th. After taking a day off, The Eras Tour returns with Maisie Peters. Maisie signed to Ed Sheeran’s label. Her last album, ‘The Good Witch,’ was her first Billboard chart entry, debuting at No. 4 on the Billboard 200. And the final night in London will welcome RAYE. RAYE was not only born and raised in London, earlier this year she broke the record for most Brit Awards won by a single artist in one year. After wrapping her European leg, Taylor Swift is rest to return to North America.
If you’re on the couch with your popcorn just aching for some more drama between pop singers, do not invite Paramore singer Hayley Williams to your party, because she’s not interested. In an Instagram Story recorded after a show in Hamburg on Tuesday (July 23), Williams hopped on camera to give her no-holds-barred take on the attempts by some to pit female pop stars against each other.
Sliding off screen to change, Williams gave a two-minute treatise on why she hates the internet, but also on the irrational focus on competition between artists. “Something I’ve been thinking about a lot, and why I don’t really love it [the internet]… Especially in the music world, like when it comes, to like, music, whether it’s the pop girls or any scene, really. People only give a f–k about numbers now, and stats. And that is so lame. It’s very fun, don’t get me wrong. It’s sick. We’ve had a #1 album and top this and that albums, yes. That s–t is great…,” she said.
After a quick change into sweatshirt, Williams continued, “But I just remember a time when that was not so important, and that also wasn’t like a gotcha for a stan-war type of situation. Anyway, I just think it’s really f–king annoying… My side of the internet, which is basically not really the internet. Where I just get to support all the pop girls. Maybe that’s privilege. because I’m not a pop girl, but I just think everyone should cool it and let people make really great music and s–t… I’m over it.”
With just the top of her head visible as she hung upside down in the frame to give a view up her nostrils, Williams concluded that she is, “over it.” (Watch the whole video here.) As noted by Stereogum, the Story has since disappeared, but a residual tile remains on which Williams added, “witnessing stan wars makes me so happy pmore is not really in the pop world. i just get to enjoy the good s–t thats come out this year and im sorry some of yall cant thats gotta be tough damn.”
Paramore’s great summer adventure opening for Taylor Swift rolls on tonight (July 24) with the final show in Hamburg, Germany, before the outing moves on to Munich’s Olympiastadion for gigs on Saturday(July 27) and Sunday (July 28). The group will stay touring with Swift through a fifth and final gig at Wembley Stadium in London on August 20.
After sweating it out for more than three hours a night on her Eras Tour Taylor Swift has earned some down time with friends. And that’s exactly what she got over the weekend after wrapping her three-night stand at Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, when she and some fellow A-listers dropped into the city’s Hacienda bar.
“Great to welcome Taylor Swift with all her musicians and dancers to the Hacienda last night. Special to also welcome Superbowl champion Travis Kelce, the legendary Stevie Nicks and Paramore,” the bar wrote on Facebook on Monday (July 1). “It was such a warm and genuinely friendly night, we did not request our ‘usual’ Hacienda photo so as to allow Taylor and friends the chance to properly relax and enjoy their well-deserved time off.”
The Dublin shows were notable for several reasons, one of which was a seeming surprise appearance by three-time Super Bowl champ Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce, who strode into the venue mid-show and appeared to catch his girlfriend’s eye. In videos posted by fans, Taylor seems to light up when Kelce walked in during the Folklore song “August.”
In addition, one of Swift’s all-time musical lodestars, Fleetwood Mac singer and solo star Nicks, seemed to get a bit misty at that show after Taylor performed the Midnights track “You’re On Your Own, Kid.” Swift dedicated the live debut of The Tortured Poets Department song “Clara Bow” to Nicks at the show, and according to fan videos, when the singer began performing “You’re On Your Own” Nicks got teary-eyed.
Last year during a show in Atlanta, Nicks said the song helped capture the sadness she felt following the death of her longtime Mac bandmate Christine McVie in November 2022. “Thank you to Taylor Swift for doing this thing for me, and that is writing a song called ‘You’re On Your Own, Kid,’” Nicks said at the time. “That is the sadness of how I feel. As long as Chris was, even on the other side of the world, we didn’t have to talk on the phone. We really weren’t phone buddies. Then we would go back to Fleetwood Mac, and we would walk in and it would be like ‘little sister, how are you?’ It was like never a minute had passed, never an argument in our entire 47 years.”
Swift will be back on stage at Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam on Thursday (July 4) for a three-night stand before moving on to another three-fer at Gelsenkirchen, Germany’s Arena AufSchalke on July 17-19.
Check out the fan footage below.
Paramore is joining the latest round of celebrity support for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza following this week’s intensifying violence between Israel and Hamas in the southern city of Rafah.
On Instagram Stories Wednesday (May 29), the punk-rock trio posted information about Save the Children and Doctors Without Borders, two organizations currently providing humanitarian aid to Palestinians affected by the ongoing war. After encouraging fans to join them in donating to the non-profits, the band concluded their note with a message: “We stand in solidarity with those calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”
Elsewhere in the post, bandmates Hayley Williams, Taylor York and Zac Farro further explained their stance on the war, which has been waging on since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas killed about 1,200 Israeli civilians and took around 250 more hostage in a surprise attack in Gaza on Oct. 7. “Lastly, we do not believe that support for our Palestinian friends and family equals anti-Semitism,” they wrote. “We love our Jewish friends and family and pray for the safe return of the remaining hostages.”
The group added, “That being said, we simply cannot support a genocide.”
Paramore’s post comes amid Israel’s recent military push in Rafah, which on Sunday (May 26) culminated in an Israeli airstrike triggering a deadly fire that killed 45 people taking shelter in a Palestinian refugee camp. Over the next two days, at least 37 more civilians were reportedly killed by additional shelling and strikes in the area, putting the overall Palestinian death total since the war began well past 36,000.
Israeli leaders have argued that the violence in Rafah is crucial to ensuring Hamas’ return of the hostages taken in the Oct. 7 attacks, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called the refugee camp fire a “tragic mishap.” Political leaders and citizens across the globe, however, are increasingly calling for an end to the violence following the latest surge in civilian deaths, including other American artists such as Kehlani and Dua Lipa — both of whom have joined Paramore in publicly calling for action against the violence this week.
In the mid-2000s, indie rock was booming, and major labels swooped in to sign many of the genre’s biggest acts. Two decades later, MGMT, The Decemberists, Death Cab for Cutie and Modest Mouse, among others, have emerged from those deals into a wildly different music industry. For artists who are coming out of long contracts, “it’s a whole new era,” says Kirk Harding, a longtime manager and co-owner of label and management company Bad Habit.
Recording contracts changed drastically between 2004 and 2024. There is also a new set of players for artists to choose from — not just the major labels and prominent indies, but a number of distribution companies that offer some level of services. “You can cherry pick what you want to be in your contract to some degree,” says Scott Booker, the longtime manager of The Flaming Lips, which is currently without a label contract after fulfilling their deal with Warner Records. (Paramore is also a free agent.)
“If we end up signing,” Booker adds, “it’ll be a different kind of record deal than what we would have signed even a decade ago.”
Throughout the 2000s and into the 2010s, the majority of major label acts signed low-royalty deals and typically gave up ownership of three to five albums for a long period (often forever). On top of that, many agreed to what are known as “360 deals,” in which the label also participates in income from merchandise, sponsorships, ticket sales and more.
In those days, labels could get these kinds of terms because it was difficult, if not impossible, for artists to get national exposure without a record company’s help. Now, artists can build a global presence before partnering with any label. That means they have the negotiating power to ask for, and sometimes receive, terms that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. As a result, industry expectations around deal-making have shifted.
“I don’t think I’ve done a deal with anybody in the last few years where the artist hasn’t had at least 50% of the profit,” Harding says. “The new wars to wage are making sure that the deals and the reversions are short term, so that the artist can get through the deal and get back these new recordings quickly.” (If a band licenses its album to a label for 10 years, for example, after that time, the album reverts back to the band, usually conditional on recoupment of the deal.)
All that said, an artist’s leverage in record deal negotiations stems in large part from their ability to generate streams. And this doesn’t always work out in favor of veteran rock bands; rock is the fifth most popular genre when ranked by percentage of current streams, according to Luminate. “There aren’t as many options as one would think right now given what’s going on with rock music and streaming,” says Jordan Kurland, who manages Death Cab for Cutie.
Still, these acts have mostly proven that they can build and maintain an audience — especially on the road, a challenge for many artists who came of age in an era of passive streaming engagement. And some of them have a level of cultural cachet that’s attractive to labels, who always have to think about what will entice the next generation of signings. Friendly deal terms help, as does having artists on the roster that young acts look up to.
Whenever an artist who signed a traditional contract with a major label completes the deal, their old record company typically still has one hook in them because they still likely own the act’s previous sound recordings. “If the label wants you to stay, they have the power to say, ‘We can adjust the royalty rate on your catalog,’ or in rare cases, take your recordings out of perpetuity and set reversions so you eventually get them back,” Harding says.
“That always comes up now in renegotiations,” adds an executive at a prominent indie label. “Artists say, ‘Cool, we’ll re-sign with you, but we want those recordings back in 10 years.'”
This leverage is conditional, of course, on the label wanting to keep the band. In the case of The Flaming Lips, “after American Head, we started the conversation of, was Warner gonna sign us again?” Booker recalls. “Is Warner even interested? It really came back that they weren’t, to be honest.”
Some veteran bands might still want to find a major label partner for particular services. While radio’s influence continues to diminish, promotion remains expensive, and the majors still have the most radio muscle. “Radio is still a big part of the Death Cab picture,” Kurland says. During “the last Death Cab campaign in ticket sales, for example, if you look at markets that no longer had an alternative radio station, it [negatively] impacted our shows.”
“Could you sell less records and keep more of the money?” Kurland asks. “Yes. But are there other aspects of your business that might suffer by doing that?”
Gandhar Savur, an entertainment attorney who represents Built to Spill and other bands, asks a similar question — but he’s more optimistic about the answer. “If they’re doing really good business as a band, they can sell less records but retain the lion’s share of income and make so much more money,” he says. “That’s why you’re seeing a lot of bands go into situations where they’re no longer doing major label deals or even your standard 50-50 indie deal. They’re looking for something that’s more akin to a label services deal — which is a distribution deal with some services added for publicity and promotion.”
This is the route taken by The Decemberists, who previously released five albums on Capitol, including The King Is Dead, which hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200. For its upcoming album, the band opted to sign with Thirty Tigers, which is distributed by Sony’s The Orchard and offers some services, including radio.
“We found an option that provides label investment and infrastructure without compromising on ownership, and that gives the band and their team real autonomy with the marketing,” says Jason Colton, who manages the band, via email. “It’s a lot of responsibility for a larger release, but ultimately, it’s more investment, more control and outright ownership than we were going to find in a more traditional deal.”
Outside of the majors and major-owned distributors, indie label executives say they have also seen an uptick in interest from veterans leaving majors in recent years. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs signed a deal with Secretly Canadian in 2022 after years of working with Interscope, for example, while PJ Harvey released an album on Partisan in 2023 after a 20-plus-year affiliation with Island Records. MGMT’s new album Loss of Life came out in February through Mom + Pop.
Potential label partners have their own calculations to make. “It’s hard for any label if you only have the new record and someone else has all the catalog, because a new record always drives catalog listening, but you’re not participating in the income,” the indie label executive says. “But there’s always been a thing where labels need and want important artists, even if they’re expensive, to attract other artists.”
“A lot of these bands are in a good position so they can get favorable terms,” the person continues. “Maybe they only do a one-record deal. The hope is we do a good job, the artist is happy, and we renew that contract. Over time, we work with them long term.”
Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.
Hayley Williams is calling out Republicans in the Tennessee House of Representatives after a lawmaker blocked a resolution honoring Allison Russell‘s Grammy win while allowing a similar resolution honoring Paramore to pass.
In a Friday (Feb. 16) statement to local newspaper The Tennesseean, the frontwoman wrote, “Allison Russell is an incredibly talented musician and songwriter” whose music “spans genres with strong ties to the Folk/Americana scenes.” “You might have seen her on the Grammy stage performing with the great Joni Mitchell,” she continued.
Williams went on to address what she sees as the crux of the issue: racism, particularly on the part of House Republican Caucus Chair Jeremy Faison. His Feb. 12 objection to the decree honoring Russell’s 2024 best American roots performance win pushed the resolution back to committee, a move seen as “a death knell for resolutions, though it technically could be brought back to the House for another vote,” explains The Tennesseean. Meanwhile, Faison had no qualms with passing a resolution celebrating Paramore’s best rock album and best alternative music performance wins.
“Oh, she is also Black,” wrote the “Still Into You” singer of Russell. “She’s a brilliant Black woman. The blatant racism of our state leadership is embarrassing and cruel.”
Paramore and Russell took home their respective awards at the Grammys ceremony on Feb. 4. The resolutions honoring both acts were put forth by Democratic Rep. Justin Jones, whom Williams personally thanked for his “steadfast commitment to [his] community” in her statement.
“Thank you to Allison Russell for using your voice and artistry to band people together, not tear them apart,” she concluded, congratulating the “Nightflyer” singer on her Grammy success. The Good Dye Young founder also shared a link to her statement on Instagram Stories and wrote, “Paramore will not accept any acknowledgement or honor from the TN House until Allison Russell is given the same recognition.”
Russell also previously responded after Jones slammed Faison on X for nixing the resolution. “That the TN GOP blocked it, I take as a compliment,” she wrote at the time. “Their bigotry, sadly, is on relentless display. We have a chance this year to make a real change in TN.”
