Hayley Williams Plays “Teenagers” Live First Time
Hayley Williams thrilled long-time Paramore fans recently performing “Teenagers” — the all-time favorite Jennifer’s Body soundtrack — live for the first time. The stripped-down performance shared as part of her intimate Self-Serenades series marked a rare revisit to the haunting acoustic gem she penned as a teenager for the 2009 horror-comedy starring Megan Fox.
Hayley Williams sat with crossed legs on the floor with an acoustic guitar in her hands and delivered a raw and emotionally charged rendition of the track. Her voice now was more mature yet still familiar. It floated over the emotional lyrics.
“I’m gonna go on like I never met you / And it’ll feel wrong at first, but I think I can forget you.” The vulnerability in her delivery underscored the time the song was born in the heyday of emo’s cinematic crossover into mainstream pop culture.
“Teenagers” first time appeared as a soundtrack that became an emblem of mid-2000s alternative angst, featuring contributions from Panic! at the Disco, Dashboard Confessional, and All Time Low. The Jennifer’s Body soundtrack served as a time capsule of the era’s emo and alt-rock boom. Also, Williams’ contribution was no exception, standing out for its understated emotional depth.
“Lore behind this one is so ridiculous I can’t tell if tellin’ it would make the song better or worse,” she wrote on Instagram, cheekily acknowledging the nostalgia and mystery surrounding the song. She added to the video’s caption, lending the performance a sense of reflective full-circle artistry.
Hayley Williams Shared A Message on Instagram
Now 36, Williams has spent much of the past two decades evolving from Paramore’s explosive pop-punk frontwoman into an introspective solo artist. Her Self-Serenades series has become a beloved outlet for fans eager to hear more personal, unfiltered versions of her work.
Alongside the performance, Hayley Williams also took a moment to speak about the escalating climate crisis. She revealed that she recorded the video in Nashville after a sleepless night spent sheltering from tornado threats. “Glorious” weather followed a string of severe events, including flooding and storm warnings. “Have come a little too close to multiple natural disasters this year,” she wrote. “They continue to get worse and more frequent.”
Williams’ performance was a reminder of her songwriting talent. Also of the emotional appeal that songs can carry across time. Especially when delivered with such disarming honesty. For fans of Paramore and Jennifer’s Body alike, it was a beautiful moment, steeped in nostalgia and underscored by a voice that still hits just as hard.
