Hayley Williams admires Billie Eilish.
Hayley Williams and Zane Lowe
The 31-year-old singer rose to fame as the lead vocalist for Paramore, and has said she's thankful she grew up out of the spotlight and before "internet culture", because she would have gone "insane" if she had to spend her teens in the public eye like 18-year-old singer Billie.
She said: "We got a head start on the culture that is the internet now and-and the fast paced life that artists and people are living ... If I were Billie Eilish today, and granted she's on a rocket that's going so much higher than I would have ever even dreamed for Paramore, if that were me I would be insane and [struggle]. I am so happy there's someone like her who has great, really cool family around her."
Hayley is gearing up to release her debut solo album 'Petals For Armour' in May this year, and says the record is inspired by the idea that it's okay to "make mistakes" and "trip up in front of the world".
She added: "I mean it's where 'Petals for Armour' comes from. It's the idea that being vulnerable is a shield. Because how else can you be a human that's inevitably gonna f**k up and trip in front of the world a million times. Your world could be a stage, or your world could be your job and your apartment. It is subjective, completely.
"I also feel more protected than I've ever felt going out, because of the fact, what is there to hide really? What is the problem with making mistakes? Are we scared of being cancelled, or are we just scared of looking stupid?"
The 'Simmer' hitmaker also spoke about stepping into "femininity" with her solo music, after growing up in an industry "surrounded by men".
Speaking to Zane Lowe for Apple Music's Beats 1 Radio, she said: "I kept thinking about what is it to me to grow up in a man's world, an industry that I'm surrounded by men all the time. I am a woman. How can I own that without shame? How can I just be proud about my feminine side, all of my feminine sides? Because I got masculine sides too. Everyone's got both sides of it. I feel like I've been so comfortable with this other side of myself that is so not feminine, that what does it feel like to step into femininity ... I feel like I've been so comfortable with this other side of myself that is so not feminine, that what does it feel like to step into femininity?"
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