After divorce with fellow rocker Chad Gilbert, Hayley Williams gets hospitalized. The trauma of divorce caused high stress to Williams and leads to depression. Singer Hayley confirmed here to stay at the rehabilitation center, which was secret earlier.
Marriage and Split
In 2014, Williams got engaged with Gilbert on Christmas day. On February 20, 2016, they were married. In the summer of 2017, Paramore frontwoman called its break up with Chad. Chad was a newfound glory guitarist. After sharing the relation of a year, the couple began the proceedings of divorce and custody of their pet dog.
Diagnosed with Illness
From the day of breakup, Williams started getting panic attacks and mentioned it in many posts too. Subsequently, she took professional treatment and kept it disclosed. She was found to be diagnosed with PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and depression.
PTSD is defined as a condition of mental health triggered by traumatic events. Williams witnessed symptoms like nightmares, flashbacks, and panic attacks with severe anxiety.
She many times posted comments like, “I have a lot of bad dreams and had to get therapy.” She mentioned her dreams were very distressing and often water-related. She mostly described her relationship with Chad suing water metaphors. Earlier she was denying the depression symptoms but then faced it and realized how much power emotions have on physical health.
Mental and Physical Stress
Williams told guardians her weight was 91 pounds only at the time of divorce proceedings. Later, she openly accepted and starts discussing her mental health. It gave her a clear vision of where Hayley was in an affair with Chad Gilbert, although he was married. She confronted her loneliness and described her relationship with Chad as premature relation. She is the singer of the most famous rock band and was about to quit it also because of the depression. In an interview, she discussed the feeling of hopelessness and getting a break from a music career to concentrate on treatment.
Williams released an album named “After Laughter” which includes darker lyrics of her PTSD and depression. A song titled “Fake Happy” told her need to real smile instead of a fake smile and discussed how she pretends to look happy despite the sadness inside her. She even sang regarding the relationship with her husband and struggles faced by her mentally, emotionally, and physically. Lyrics of William’s music tend to reveal the unhappy and sad side of her, which was not disclosed in front of people.
Journey as a Star
She gets recognized for dyed red hair and beautiful, powerful vocals in 2004 when she began writing and singing for Paramore. She was compared with many male singers and writers because of this exorbitant talent and work in the pop-rock genre.
The work journey of Paramore for Williams is worth discussing and proved to be a fruitful experience. Initially, Williams was signed as a solo artist to Atlantic records. Then she focused on being a part of the alternative rock band. The image of Paramore was not perfect with the label, so the Atlantic decided to release its music under a new label called Fueled. It was by Ramen with Williams.
In 2005, The Debut album was released named “All we know is falling.” This album didn’t get substantial commercial benefits initially. In 2007, the second album “Riot” was released and earned some success. The media focused on William and made her a star. It created many personal problems with co-stars and leads to the cancellation of some shows. There were many frequent changes faced by the band due to the popularity of Williams as the front person. The main difference was quit of founding members of the group as they felt overshadowed by Williams’s talent.
Gradually William started getting offers for solo performances as a mainstream artist and combine with other musicians too. Williams denied many proposals stating her preference to rock band.
Comeback with Taylor York
Around 2015, Williams was suffering from PTSD and depression, and at the same time, Jeremy Davis had left the band. She got so engrossed in depression that she just stays in bed for the whole day and keeps on watching TV and was unable to bring herself to do any work. At a specific point, Hayley felt there is no light at the end of the tunnel and want her life to end. She has suicidal feelings in her mind and had no purpose in life left.
Williams was so consumed in the darkness that she almost quit the band in mid-2015 for some time. She was left with no music and ideas for her songs. At that time, she thought of pursuing something different than music. Then she started visiting a therapist and started focusing on her unfinished tracks. She began writing songs again and regains some confidence to sing them again. She wrote many tracks with guitarist Taylor York, and released a new album “After Laughter.” The guitarist Taylor York was also struggling with depression and was able to connect with Williams.
Eventually, with Taylor York, Williams decided to pursue music again and make him a partner in songwriting. To keep the band relevant, Williams focused on poppy sound with more maturity added in the lyrics and music. With the music partner and release of a new album, Williams felt winning with confidence and happiness in her life. She then felt more optimistic about her passion for music.
Williams finally feels the bliss of being in a band again and continue singing the songs. Paramore remains a renowned and robust band with a huge fan base and bandmates.