Inside Taylor Swift and Hayley Williams' friendship as Paramore set to open Eras tour in Edinburgh

Taylor Swift will be bringing her Eras World Tour to Edinburgh in just a matter of days to perform three nights at Murrayfield Stadium.

The three hour long show boasts an impressive 44-track setlist but before the Love Story singer takes to the stage, fans will be treated with a set from American rock band, Paramore, who are the support act for all of Swift's UK performances.

Lead vocalist of the band, Hayley Williams, 35, has been a good friend of Taylor's for many years so it's no surprise the Cruel Summer star offered the band a space on the European leg of her epic world tour.

Paramore, who rose to fame back in the early 2000s, are expected to play around nine songs with a 40 minute set and even include their own special surprise song each night, similarly to Swift.

Taylor, 34, and Hayley, 35, have several things in common, both being highly gifted musicians and talented vocalists, but here we take a closer look at how they came to be such good friends.

The pair were first introduced when they were still teenagers by none other than Taylor's own mum, Andrea Swift at a Grammys after party in 2008.

Speaking on Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight show, the Paramore star revealed that the Cruel Summer star had been her "first industry friend".

She recalled: “We were at some Grammy party — it was actually Timbaland’s Grammy party. Huge. I was very nervous, but a woman came up to me and she said, ‘I’m Taylor Swift’s mom and, you know, Taylor doesn’t have a lot of friends her age that do music.

"And I would love to, like, you know, introduce you guys or get your number.'”

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Despite this, Hayley admits that she didn't reach out to Swift until a year later when a "certain VMAs scandal" happened between Taylor and Kanye West.

Describing herself as the "shyest freak" when she's not on stage, Hayley explained: "That was the first time that I felt like I have to reach out because this person is really cool and did not deserve that. So around that time is when I got to know a little bit Ms Taylor Swift."

Their friendship grew from there and the pair would regularly hang out in each other homes as they were both living in Nashville at the age of 19.

Hayley previously recalled: "I remember when we were 19 and I was closer with Taylor Swift at that point because we both lived in Nashville and we're both experiencing our own versions of real success for the first time.

"I went over to hang out. She's a really good cook, by the way. She's a really good cook. She has taught me how to make stuff that I did not retain at all."

The Misery Business singer revealed that Swift even went on to be the inspiration behind one of Paramore's hit songs as she explained that Taylor had shown her a cupboard full of gifts she was ready to send to people she was thankful for.

Hayley said: "I was like, 'Oh my God, my life is so not together.' I was like, 'I can barely remember to send someone a card or flowers.' There are still Christmas gifts at my house that I have not sent to my friends just sitting there in the back of my closet."

She continued: "But that, I wish that I was the person that felt like I had all my s— together and I was like, 'Oh, I had some extra time, so I'm just popping by with some flowers.' That kind of thing, that is my idealized self."

She then explained that this particular moment was what served as the inspiration behind Paramore's track, "Running Out of Time", PEOPLE reports.

Hayley has also popped up multiple times in Taylor's career over the years.

Back in 2011, the Anti Hero singer invited the Paramore frontwoman on stage during her Speak Now tour to perform Paramore's famous track, "That's What You Get".

Later in 2015, she appeared in the music video for Taylor's song, Bad Blood as the "Crimson Curse".

Now over 15 years on from when their friendship first blossomed, Paramore are touring around Europe and the UK as the opening act on Taylor's epic Eras World Tour.

The US rock band performed on the opening night of the Eras Tour back in March 2023 in Glendale, USA and are now back for the European and UK leg of the tour.

Taylor and Hayley have also collaborated for the first time on Swift's re-recorded Speak Now (Taylor's Version) album which was released on July 7 2023.

The pair teamed up to duet on one of the new vault tracks, 'Castles Crumbling' on an updated version of Taylor's third album which Hayley said is her "favourite" album "for so many reasons".

When news of their collaboration broke last summer, the Paramore star took to Instagram to share a throwback picture of her roller skating at her 21st birthday alongside the popstar.

She wrote: "Taylor was the first industry friend I ever made and hung out with outside of work things.

"When Speak Now dropped, I bought my friend’s record (as you do!) and listened to the whole thing in my first car, sitting still in the driveway. It’s my favourite Taylor Swift album for so many reasons.

"I wish I could go back to this moment at my 21st birthday and tell her one day she’ll legitimately own Speak Now and we’ll get to sing together on one of the songs."

With less than a week to go till the Eras Tour arrives in Edinburgh this weekend, Scottish swifties are counting down the days till they see Taylor and Hayley in the flesh.

The Shake It Off singer treats fans to two surprise songs at each concert, which have recently been in the form of a mash up, and fans have been speculating whether Taylor and Hayley will use the Edinburgh gigs as an opportunity to perform 'Castles Crumbling' to Scottish fans.

The theory behind this is that Taylor will select this song which could potentially relate back to Edinburgh Castle as she performs at Murrayfield Stadium for three nights from June 7 to June 9.

'Castles Crumbling' is also one of the few songs in Taylor's discography that have not yet been sung across the entire Eras tour despite having Hayley with her on tour, leaving fans to believe she's been saving it for Scottish swifties.

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