Hayley Williams says she nearly gave up music because of "unhealthy" marriage

12 March 2020, 17:20

Jazmin Duribe

By Jazmin Duribe

Hayley Williams opened up about her marriage, Petals for Armor and childhood in a new interview.

Hayley Williams has admitted that she almost gave up music because of her marriage to Chad Gilbert. The couple started their relationship in 2008 and were married from 2016 until 2018.

Speaking in a new interview with The Guardian, the Paramore singer opened up about her "unhealthy" relationship with her ex-husband. Hayley said that she actually knew before her wedding that she didn't even want to get married.

READ MORE: Hayley Williams calls out Spotify for adding Misery Business to a female empowerment playlist

"I was in a very unhealthy relationship, and I just kept thinking: 'I can fix it this time.'" she explained. She added: "I wanted the whole thing – the family – and I thought I might even stop doing music for a while to do that."

Hayley Williams and Chad Gilbert
Hayley Williams and Chad Gilbert. Picture: Bonnie Biess/Getty Images, Chelsea Lauren/WireImage

Thankfully, Hayley didn't give up music and is set to bless us with her first solo album, Petals for Armor, this year. She added: "Give up the thing that’s the most precious to me? Are you kidding me?"

Hayley hasn't publicly discussed what led to the breakdown of her marriage, but fans believe her song 'Simmer' might be about Chad. She also explained how speaking about the relationship from her side only seems unfair.

She said: "He probably looks at me like the villain. Throwing around my version of someone else’s story doesn’t feel fair, which is funny because I don’t necessarily think it should be fair. Especially not after the shit I went through."

Following Hayley's split from her ex-husband, Hayley's best friend reminded her of a moment from the morning of the wedding. Hayley – who wore a Vera Wang dress and Dr Martens –uncharacteristically wouldn't stop picking herself apart.

She continued: "When he said that, I missed myself. Because when you have so much shame, you don’t want one person to see a fleck of a problem because that could be the floodgate opening."