Taylor Swift‘s Eras tour is already proving to be one of the most exciting tours of the year, and the first night of the tour hasn’t even concluded yet. Today (March 17) Taylor kicked off the Eras tour in Glendale, AZ, which temporarily renamed itself “Swift City.” Joining her on opening night was “Abcdefu” hitmaker Gayle, as well as Paramore.
During Paramore’s set, lead vocalist Hayley Williams recalled the first time she reached out to Taylor. In a clip shared by Variety, Williams said she first saw Taylor perform at the Grammy Awards when she was still a teenager. It was then that she was given Taylor’s number.
“I was like 18 at the time, and it felt kind of lonely, to be that young and to be doing things, like the Grammys and all that.,” Williams said. “And I met someone as I was leaving. And she said to me, ‘My daughter, she just played, she’s just getting started and she doesn’t really know anybody in the business. And I just really want her to be around people her age that are doing the same thing, and so I got her number.”
The woman she’s referring to is Taylor’s mother, Andrea Swift.
Williams continued and shared the moment she decided to reach out to Swift, hinting that it was after the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, when she was infamously interrupted by Kanye West during her acceptance speech for Best Female Video.
“Because I’m like, the shyest freak when I’m not on stage, I did not text [Taylor] until a certain VMAs scandal,” Williams said “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. So around that time is when I got to know Taylor Swift. And the guys and I have been able to watch her as we’ve been playing shows and touring the world, we’ve got to watch her trajectory. And I’m sure you know this, because you’re here tonight, so you obviously get it, but there are moments when I talk to people and I’m like ‘I am not sure that you get how f*cking incredible this artist is.’”
Paramore’s Hayley Williams recounts the first time she reached out to Taylor Swift. #ErasTour pic.twitter.com/lfh5pxrVDR
— Variety (@Variety) March 18, 2023
You can see the clip above.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.