In a pop-punk twist of seemingly epic proportions, Paramore singer Hayley Williams and the band’s former guitarist Josh Farro have suddenly appeared among the credits of pop star Olivia Rodrigo‘s smash hit “Good 4 U” as co-writers of the song with Rodrigo and her producer.
Williams hipped her social media followers to the change on Tuesday (Aug. 24) when she re-shared an Instagram Story from music publisher Warner Chappell Music. The company’s post celebrated the latest chart-topping feat for “Good 4 U” and added, “A huge shoutout to our writers Hayley Williams and Joshua Farro.”
See a screenshot toward the bottom of this post.
Not that the additions of Williams and Farro would’ve stayed hidden for long. NME noted the two are now clearly listed among the four writers of “Good 4 U” in the repertory on the website of ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers — Rodrigo and producer Dan Nigro are the other two.
When “Good 4 U” first emerged in May, however, Williams’ and Farro’s names did not appear alongside those of the other two writers of the song, as shown in recording credits then shared by Billboard.
But since then, rumors have swirled that Rodrigo would have to hand over a portion of her ”Good 4 U” publishing rights after listeners noticed similarities between her tune and Paramore’s 2007 song “Misery Business.” While we don’t know the details of any deal that may have transpired, the Paramore writers now certainly make up half of the credited ”Good 4 U” writing team.
In the same month that “Good 4 U” was released, EW pointed out its similarities to “Misery Business,” surveying listeners in that vein and even sharing a fan-made mashup of the two songs. Concurrently, Vulture‘s Halle Kiefer wrote that Rodrigo, “with her new song, [has] gone fully pop-punk; the angry track is evocative of Hayley Williams on ‘Misery Business.'”
Along with other artists, Rodrigo has helped bring rock-type sounds back to the Top 40. In June, Courtney Love accused Rodrigo of stealing the art concept used by Love’s former band Hole on their album Live Through This for Rodrigo’s Sour Prom, a concert film tied to Sour, her album containing ”Good 4 U.”
On Williams’ Instagram Story on Tuesday, the Paramore singer remarked, “Our publisher is wildin rn.”
Compare the Olivia Rodrigo and Paramore songs below.