Swift and Paramore's Hayley Williams have been friends since they were teens, and Swift even brought Williams out to sing "That's What You Get" during a 2011 show on her "Speak Now" tour. While their friendship has been a little more under-the-radar over the years than some of Swift's other relationships, they've started to open up about their bond more in recent years.
Williams appears on the "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)" track "Castles Crumbling," and she paid tribute to Swift in a January Instagram post celebrating the album's then-upcoming re-release. "Taylor was the first industry friend I ever made and hung out with outside of work things," Williams wrote in the caption. "When 'Speak Now' dropped, I bought my friend's record (as you do!) and listened to the whole thing in my first car, sitting still in the driveway. It's my favorite Taylor Swift album for so many reasons. I wish I could go back to this moment at my 21st birthday and tell her one day she'll legitimately own 'Speak Now' and we'll get to sing together on one of the songs."
In February, Williams shared a bit more about their early bond. "I remember when we were 19 and I was closer with Taylor Swift at that point because we both lived in Nashville and we're both experiencing our own versions of real success for the first time," she told Zane Lowe during an interview on Apple Music 1. "I went over to hang out. She's a really good cook, by the way. She's a really good cook. She has taught me how to make stuff that I did not retain at all."
A month later, Williams revealed that she texted Swift for the first time after Kanye West interrupted her onstage at the VMAs in 2009. "I did not text her until a certain VMA scandal. That was the first time that I felt like, 'I have to reach out because this person is really cool and did not deserve that,'" Williams told the crowd during a show, per Variety.
On July 6, Swift revealed that Paramore would be opening for her on all of her UK and European Eras Tour dates. "Really can't contain my excitement because . . . we're adding 14 new shows to The Eras Tour. And I get to travel the world doing shows with @paramore!!" Swift wrote in her social media post. "@yelyahwilliams 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???"
