Hayley Williams: Morgan Wallen is song’s ‘racist country singer’

Hayley Williams is happy to confirm that Morgan Wallen is the “racist country singer” she is referring to in her song “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.”

During a recent interview on the New York Times’ ”Popcast” to discuss her latest solo album, the Paramore lead singer was asked whether she would like to “name names” to reveal who she means when she sings about being “the biggest star / At this racist country singer’s bar” in the title track.

“It could be a couple but I’m always talking about Morgan Wallen,” Williams said. “I don’t give a s—. Find me at Whole Foods, b—, I don’t care.”

In 2021, Wallen was caught on video drunkenly using a racist slur. The Grammy-nominated country star’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen, named after one of his songs and paying homage to his upbringing, opened in Nashville last year.

(Video of Wallen’s 2024 arrest for reckless endangerment is making headlines again this week too. In police bodycam video obtained by the Associated Press, Wallen denies throwing a chair off a Nashville bar’s roof but apologizes for “caus[ing] problems.” He took a plea deal after being charged in the case and was sentenced to seven days’ incarceration at a DUI Education Center, two years’ probation, a $350 fine and payment of court fees.)

Williams, who was born in Mississippi, met her future Paramore bandmates after moving to Tennessee as a child. She has been open about her political beliefs and having to navigate her own upbringing as a white southern Christian. Some of her latest music addresses religious hypocrisy and the racial tensions and racist legacy of the South.

“I’m never not ready to scream at the top of my lungs about racial issues,” Williams said in her interview. “I don’t know why that became the thing that gets me the most angry. I think it’s because it’s so intersectional that it overlaps with everything from climate change to LGBTQIA+ issues.”

In addition to her years with Paramore and the inspiration behind her latest solo work, Williams spoke about how proud she is of the diversity of Paramore’s fan base and audience at shows.

“I’m very passionate in that we have a long way to go in making people feel like that they belong in the world,” she said. “The repercussions of people not feeling like they’re a part or they belong, we see it all the time in the news. I think music is not only the easiest but the beautiful way to tap into people’s hearts and their subconscious and change their minds.”