Hayley Williams is ready to name names.
While discussing her latest solo album, Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party, the lead singer of Paramore revealed that Morgan Wallen was the inspiration behind the title track’s “racist country singer” lyric.
“It could be a couple, but I’m always talking about Morgan Wallen,” Williams, 36, said on Tuesday, September 30, episode of “The New York Times’ Popcast” podcast. “I don’t give a s***.”
She didn’t appear nervous about any repercussions when she cheekily added, “Find me at Whole Foods bitch, I don’t care.”
Us Weekly has reached out to Wallen’s rep for comment.
Williams caught the attention of music fans after she sang about an unnamed artist on the song “Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party.”
“I’ll be the biggest star,” she sings. “At this racist country singer’s bar.”
Over the summer, Williams dropped a hint that she wasn’t impressed with any of the Nashville establishments owned by country music musicians.
“There’s really no good ones. I don’t have one. My favorite country music artist’s establishment? Yeah, no. Pass, hard pass to all of them,” she told Stereogum in an interview published August 3. “They all have terrible names too. When you open a business, you don’t just put your name on it. You come up with something, right? It can have your DNA in it, but I don’t understand the bars that are just people’s names so I don’t have a favorite but I have a lot of beef with all of them.”
When asked if she has a least favorite spot, Williams replied, “Morgan Wallen’s spot, whatever it is.”
Morgan Wallen’s This Bar and Tennessee Kitchen is described online as a six-story live music venue, restaurant and bar. Located in Downtown Nashville’s iconic Lower Broadway district, the establishment first opened in 2024 and is close to the historic Ryman Auditorium.
In a recent interview, Williams was asked if she ever thought about opening a bar.
“My friend Brian and I have joked for years that we were gonna open a bar called Scissors for the community and I don’t think it’ll ever happen,” she told Stereogram. “But we talk about it for fun sometimes. … We need more gay bars in Nashville.”
Wallen, 32, found himself in hot water when he was caught on camera using a racist slur in 2021. At the time, he was “indefinitely” suspended from his record label, Big Loud Records, and various streaming services. Some radio stations also briefly removed Wallen’s music.
In February 2021, Wallen apologized for the incident via Instagram, saying, “I appreciate those who still see something in me and have defended me. But for today, please don’t. I was wrong. I fully accept any penalties I’m facing.”
One year after the scandal, the “Cowgirls” singer began to make his comeback in the music industry. During the 2022 ACM Awards, he won Album of the Year despite being previously banned from the ceremony.
“I have to address my fans personally and directly,” he said during his acceptance speech. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. I’m blown away by you guys. God bless.”
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