How Paramore’s singer revived her grandad’s lost album

Lives Less Ordinary

BBC

Society & Culture, Documentary, Personal Journals

4.6 • 814 Ratings

🗓️ 24 November 2025

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Hayley Williams’ grandpa Rusty nurtured her musical dreams – now, she’s returning the favour.

As the lead singer of American rock band Paramore, Hayley Williams has won three Grammy Awards and toured the world. Behind the scenes, her grandad Rusty has been her biggest supporter and musical hero, nurturing her childhood passion and later her career. Rusty is the one who taught Hayley how to play the drums and the piano. He even followed Paramore’s tour bus around the US in his car with Hayley’s grandmother, his childhood sweetheart Sharon.

It turns out this very sentimental member of Paramore’ s entourage was so supportive of his granddaughter’s ambitions in part because his own attempt to make it as a musician was cut short. In the 1970s, Rusty sent his demo recordings to a music boss in Nashville who wanted him to mould his soul-inspired songs into the country music genre. Disillusioned, Rusty ended up quitting the music industry, and got a job in a lumber yard and eventually ran a store installing car stereos. He focused on being a father and a provider for his family. For 50 years, his songs lay hidden on a collection of old tapes, gathering dust. That is until Rusty’s long-lost recordings were rediscovered, and the dreams he’d packed away and long forgotten were revived – with the help of his granddaughter. This time around, Rusty gets his big break - and releases his debut album, Grand Man, at the of 79.

Presenter: Asya Fouks Producer: Elena Angelides and Maryam Maruf

Lives Less Ordinary is a podcast from the BBC World Service that brings you the most incredible true stories from around the world. Each episode a guest shares their most dramatic, moving, personal story. Listen for unbelievable twists, mysteries uncovered, and inspiring journeys - spanning the entire human experience. Step into someone else’s life and expect the unexpected. Got a story to tell? Send an email to [email protected] or message us via WhatsApp: 0044 330 678 2784 You can read our privacy notice here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5YD3hBqmw26B8WMHt6GkQxG/lives-less-ordinary-privacy-notice

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:07.0	Hello, I'm Emma Barnett. For most of my career, I've been on live radio, and I love it.
0:13.3	But I've always wondered, what if we'd had more time? How much deeper does the story go?
0:19.2	I remember having this very sharp thought
0:21.7	that what you do right now,
0:23.6	this is it, this defines your life.
0:26.0	I'm ready to talk and ready to listen.
0:28.3	I'm insulted by how little the medical community is ever bothered with this.
0:33.9	Ready to talk with me, Emma Barnard, is my new podcast.
0:37.0	Listen on BBC Sounds.
0:42.5	It was very cool to see friends and family all come together and it wasn't about me or Paramour.
0:54.2	It was about love and like this story that was, you know, the purest thing that we have in our family history.
1:03.5	It takes attention off of me, which I like even more.
1:08.8	This is a voice you might recognize.
1:11.8	Haley Williams, the lead singer of the American rock band Paramore.
1:16.4	She's been in the music business since she was 14 years old.
1:19.6	And right now, she's sort of returning the favor to the man who got her into music in the first place.
1:26.9	He's a musician the world almost missed entirely.
1:30.9	For 50 years, his songs lay hidden on a collection of old tapes, gathering dust tucked away
1:36.9	in unassuming storage boxes.
1:39.8	And while his own work remained unheard, he quietly had a hand in making sure Haley and her paramour bandmates did break into the music industry.
1:49.3	So how did he nurture their fledgling success? And who is this mystery guy?
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BBC, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BBC and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.