Rusty Williams - 'Grand Man' cover art

Paramore members help Hayley Williams’ grandfather release album he made in the ’70s – hear the first single

“I didn’t expect anything, and I’m too old to be famous,” Rusty Williams, 78, has said

by · NME

Paramore have come together to help finally release an album recorded by Hayley Williams’ grandfather in the 1970s.

Rusty Williams, now 78 years old, first laid down the tracks in question almost 50 years ago, but even his granddaughter was unaware of their existence as they went unreleased at the time.

When the Paramore frontwoman finally heard the recordings recently, she decided to help him release them commercially for the first time, with the band’s drummer Zac Farro agreeing to release the album on his own label Congrats Records.

Titled ‘Grand Man’, the album will be available from February 14 and the lead single ‘Knocking (At Your Door)’ is out now. Listen to the track, a lilting, tender soft rock number, below.

This may be the elder Williams’ first time officially releasing his own music, but he did make an appearance on his granddaughter’s 2020 solo album ‘Petals For Armor’, when Hayley sampled his song ‘Friends Or Lovers’.

“I didn’t expect anything, and I’m too old to be famous,” Rusty Williams said. “But I just want to know someone liked what I did, and to be touched by whatever the hell they are listening to. I want people to see how it felt when things were real.”

‘Grand Man’ tracklist: 

  1. ‘Knocking (At Your Door)’ 
  2. ‘Can’t Stay Away’ 
  3. ‘Angel Eyes’ 
  4. ‘Wanted’ 
  5. ‘Fade Away’ 
  6. ‘If Only For A While’ 
  7. ‘Never Gonna Stop’ 
  8. ‘Lovers Only Come And Go’ 
  9. ‘Every Time I’m High’ 
  10. ‘The Only Way For Me To Say I Love You’ 
  11. ‘Riverboat Gambler’ 
  12. ‘Someone Who Happened To Me’ 
  13. ‘Take Me Around The World’ 

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Hayley Williams, meanwhile, has teased the possibility of playing a string of solo shows herself in 2025, five years after she had originally planned them.

The shows were originally due to take place after the release of ‘Petals For Armor’, but were shelved due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has since released her second solo record ‘Flowers For Vases / Descansos’ in 2021, but has yet to play a sustained run on solo shows to support either release.

Elsewhere, Williams recently reacted to Doechii citing Paramore as an influence, declaring that the ‘Denial Is A River’ rapper “better win every Grammy”.

She also showed up at a Cyndi Lauper concert in Nashville last month to perform ‘Girls Just Wanna Have Fun’.