Paramore is fully committed to the revival of the “Misery Business”. The band performed their signature song last October for the first time since September 2018, and Hayley Williams welcomed PinkPantheress to the Austin City Limits stage for another rendition of “Misery Business” shortly after.
On Wednesday night, Paramore’s second visit to Madison Square Garden was accentuated by a surprise appearance from Lil Uzi Vert for — you guessed it — a new version of “Misery Business.”
“[We’ve been] talk for a minute, but this is our first time meeting in person. I love you,” Williams told Uzi on stage before hugging them, as captured in video by Robbie Fox and reposted by Kyle Denis. “You said too many nice things about me. You’re so nice to me and to Paramore, so can we bridge that bridge again? And then we’re going to melt their faces. GOOD? New York, are you ready? Here we are!”
Variety shared a longer video of the performance:
As mentioned by Williams, Uzi has never made a secret of his Paramore fandom. There’s plenty of evidence, like this January 2017 YouTube video of Lil Uzi Vert yelling Paramore’s “Ain’t It Fun” in the car.
In March 2020, Williams explained to Apple Music’s Zane Lowe why she turned down an opportunity to collaborate with Lil Uzi Vert. (Note: This was before Uzi changed his pronouns to them/them last July.)
“I also remember Uzi asking me to do stuff with him, and I know the fans are going to be so pissed at me for saying that, but I literally replied to him on Instagram and was like, ‘Dude, I love you so much, but I don’t want to be so famous,'” Williams said (reported by NME at the time).
Lil Uzi Vert hasn’t lost hope, however. At the BET Awards last summer they said Complex that their dream collab was still “Hayley Williams from Paramore”, adding, “There’s no one better than Hayley Williams.”
Check out more footage and fan reaction to Lil Uzi Vert’s full moment with Williams and Paramore below.
Hayley Williams just took Lil Uzi Vert (?) out on stage (??) at MSG to sing “Misery Business” (???)
— Julia Glum (@SuperJulia) June 1, 2023
hayley williams just brought out lil uzi vert for misery business what timeline are we in
— 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐡𝐧 (@bylarisha) June 1, 2023
Lil Uzi Vert and Paramore are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.