Hayley Williams is low-key taking over the world, and the misogynist music industry can't do a damned thing about it

Hayley Williams is living her best life.

No longer confined by the strictures of a major record label, Williams' recent release of new solo album Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party marks the start of a new era for Paramore's vocalist. Initially made available via her haircare company, Good Dye Young - fans could download its 17 songs by obtaining an access code with the purchase of one of her products - it arrived without any prior notice on July 28. And as if this left-field declaration of independence wasn't bold and original enough, Williams showed her disregard for music industry marketing and profiteering conventions by encouraging fans to share their codes, a callback to an era before streaming platforms dominated.

Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party is a deep dive into Hayley Williams’ creativity and newly discovered artistic freedom. Profound personal realisations sit comfortably beside cutting takedowns of modern politics and religion, offering revealing snapshots of who Hayley Williams is in 2025. It’s an evolution that's been more than twenty years in the making.

In 2003, a teenage Williams signed a contract with Atlantic Records. Living in Nashville with her mother, writing music with her friends, Williams was viewed by the major label as a pop sensation in waiting. But the 14-year-old resisted, insisting on the pop-punk sound she was most passionate about. A deal was made: she'd release six albums with her new band Paramore on subsidiary label Fueled By Ramen, plus two solo albums on Atlantic, a contract that would dictate her path as a musician for the next two decades.

Arriving with Paramore’s 2005 debut, All We Know Is Falling, Williams was constantly underestimated by the rock scene. Her age and label attention had many listeners dismiss her as a manufactured product; an industry plant, years before the term was hurled haphazardly at women across the industry. The scene she entered was, in her own words, “brutally misogynistic” – she recalled one audience member hurling a condom at her on stage when she was 16 years old.

At the end of 2023, Williams and her Paramore bandmates (Taylor York and Zac Farro) had fulfilled their contractual obligations. And while her time with Atlantic made her a defining figure of the emo scene, her newfound freedom has seen her reach new heights as an ever-changing artist.

The split came after the release of Paramore's triumphant sixth album, This Is Why, the opportunity for a fresh start giving both Williams and Paramore the freedom to create without deadlines. In fact, Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party arrived without an ordered tracklist, allowing fans to decide for themselves how their personal iteration of the album should flow. This is a highly unconventional approach, but its one that has led to Williams' most critically beloved album to date.

Perhaps the most compelling evidence of her ingenuity as an artist is her ability to span mainstream and alternative acclaim in recent years. One day, she’s featuring on a Taylor Swift deep cut and appearing around the world on the superstar’s stratospheric Eras Tour. The next, she's swapping songs with iconic new-wave heavyweight David Byrne, formerly of Talking Heads, whose upcoming album she appears on as a guest vocalist. To be viewed so highly by both her contemporaries and the musicians who preceded and inspired her is surely the mark of an exceptional artist.

And the most exciting things for fans, is that Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party is only the first declaration of independence from Hayley Williams. No longer answering to the industry powers that be, she’s taking this chance to evolve, to create, and to do whatever the fuck she wants.