Taylor Benjamin York (born December 17, 1989) is an American musician who is the guitarist of rock band
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
.
His brother Justin was a touring member of
Relient K
Relient K is an American rock band formed in 1998 in Canton, Ohio, by Matt Thiessen, Matt Hoopes, and Brian Pittman Board Message during the band members' third year in high school and their time at Malone University. The band is named after ...
and was a touring guitarist for Paramore until 2022.
Biography
York was born the youngest of three boys on December 17, 1989, and raised in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. His father is Peter York, chairman and CEO of
Capitol Christian Music Group
Capitol Christian Music Group (Capitol CMG) (formerly known as EMI Christian Music Group) is an American music group that, since 2013, is under the ownership of Universal Music Group. It is based in Brentwood, Tennessee. Capitol CMG is in the Ch ...
. Peter is also a guitarist and taught the instrument to both Taylor and his elder brother Justin. Taylor's eldest brother, Chris, is the Senior Director of A&R at
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
.
York had been in a band with the Farro brothers (
Josh
Josh is a masculine given name, frequently a diminutive (hypocorism) of the given names Joshua or Joseph, though since the 1970s, it has increasingly become a full name on its own. It may refer to:
People A–J
* "Josh", an early pseudonym of S ...
and
Zac
Zac is a masculine given name, often a short form (hypocorism) of Zachary or Zechariah. It may refer to:
People:
* Zac Alexander (born 1989), Australian professional squash player
* Zac Brooks (born 1993), American National Football League playe ...
) months before the two met
Hayley Williams
Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore.
Born and raised in Missi ...
. Zac Farro introduced York to Williams at a high school football game, and they hit it off right away. York took part in writing songs such as "Conspiracy" for Paramore's debut album, ''
All We Know Is Falling
''All We Know Is Falling'' is the debut studio album by American rock band Paramore, released on July 26, 2005, under the Atlantic-distributed Fueled by Ramen in the United States. The production was led by James Paul Wisner, Mike Green, Nick Tr ...
'', and bonus track "O Star", which was the first song York wrote with Williams alone just after they met, when they were 12 and 13 years old. York has "officially" played with
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
since 2007.
In September 2022, York confirmed that he is in a relationship with Williams.
Influences
York has stated that his favorite artists include
mewithoutYou
MewithoutYou, usually styled as mewithoutYou, was an American rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The band consisted of Aaron Weiss (vocals), Michael Weiss and Brandon Beaver (guitars), Greg Jehanian (bass guitar), and Rickie Mazzotta ( ...
,
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...
,
Kent
Kent is a county in South East England and one of the home counties. It borders Greater London to the north-west, Surrey to the west and East Sussex to the south-west, and Essex to the north across the estuary of the River Thames; it faces ...
,
Yann Tiersen
Yann Tiersen (born 23 June 1970) is a French Breton musician and composer. His musical career is split between studio recordings, music collaborations and film soundtracks songwriting. His music incorporates a large variety of classical and c ...
,
At the Drive-In
At the Drive-In was an American post-hardcore band from El Paso, Texas, formed in 1994. The band's most recent line-up consisted of Cedric Bixler-Zavala (vocals), Omar Rodríguez-López (guitar, vocals), Paul Hinojos (bass), Tony Hajjar (dru ...
,
Failure
Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective (goal), objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of Success (concept), success. The criteria for failure depends on context, and may be relative to a parti ...
,
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir ( , ; born 21 November 1965), known mononymously as Björk, is an Icelandic singer, songwriter, composer, record producer, and actress. Noted for her distinct three-octave vocal range and eccentric persona, she has de ...
, Kadawatha, and
Paper Route. More recently in interviews, he has cited
Afrobeat
Afrobeat is a Nigerian music genre that involves the combination of West African musical styles (such as traditional Yoruba music and highlife) and American funk, jazz, and soul influences, with a focus on chanted vocals, complex intersecting ...
music as a big influence in his writing for
After Laughter
''After Laughter'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Paramore. It was released on May 12, 2017, through Fueled by Ramen, as a follow-up to their self-titled album ''Paramore'' (2013). The album was produced by guitarist Taylor Yor ...
.
Talking Heads
Talking Heads were an American rock band formed in 1975 in New York City and active until 1991.[Talkin ...](_blank)
,
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epony ...
,
Blondie,
Paul Simon
Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...
,
The Strokes
The Strokes are an American rock band from New York City. Formed in 1998, the band is composed of lead singer and songwriter Julian Casablancas, guitarists Nick Valensi and Albert Hammond Jr., bassist Nikolai Fraiture, and drummer Fabrizio More ...
,
Thomas Mapfumo
Thomas Tafirenyika Mapfumo (born July 3, 1945) is a musician nicknamed "The Lion of Zimbabwe" and "Mukanya" (the praise name of his clan in the Shona language) for his immense popularity and for the political influence he wields through his mu ...
,
Tame Impala
Tame Impala is the psychedelic music project of Australian multi-instrumentalist Kevin Parker. In the recording studio, Parker writes, records, performs, and produces all of the project's music. As a touring act, Tame Impala consists of Parke ...
, and
The Cure
The Cure are an English Rock music, rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith (musician), Robert Smith has re ...
were also named influences and favorite artists of his.
Paramore
York had done backup vocals when he was younger for the band, before ''All We Know Is Falling''. He joined Paramore after the departure of Hunter Lamb in 2007 as their rhythm guitarist.
In the liner notes for the group's second album, ''
Riot!
''Riot!'' (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by American Rock music, rock band Paramore. It was released in the United States on June 12, 2007, through Fueled by Ramen as a follow-up to their debut album, ''All We Know Is Falling' ...
'', Hayley Williams, Josh Farro, and Zac Farro included him on their list of "thank yous". He also helped write "
That's What You Get
"That's What You Get" is a song by American rock band Paramore from their second studio album, ''Riot!'' (2007). It is the second Australian single, third American single and the fourth UK single. The song was released to modern rock radio on Mar ...
" and bonus track "Stop This Song", which his brother Justin York helped write.
After the release of ''
Riot!
''Riot!'' (stylized in all caps) is the second studio album by American Rock music, rock band Paramore. It was released in the United States on June 12, 2007, through Fueled by Ramen as a follow-up to their debut album, ''All We Know Is Falling' ...
'', Paramore released a live album, ''
The Final Riot!
''The Final Riot!'' is the second official live album by American Rock music, rock band Paramore and was released on November 25, 2008, with a bonus DVD containing the full live concert plus behind-the-scenes footage.
The DVD was filmed on Augu ...
''. York was credited as a member of the band in the liner notes of the latter and was later officially acknowledged by Paramore as an official member on June 15, 2009. After Josh and Zac Farro left the band, Williams said that she was sure York would leave the band as well.
York said in interview: “When it went down, it was hard for me to make a decision. I just wasn't ready. I broke down, and started crying at one point, and I just knew that I wasn't done and that I loved being in a band with Jeremy and Hayley so much. I still had a lot more to do with the band, so I just looked forward and did it.”
Williams also stated that she was not that close to Taylor at the time. They finally met up for coffee after attending a show together, and Williams recalls crying in her car afterward and knew the band was going to be okay with York staying. Since then, they became close again and have since grown closer.
York has taken part in the writing and recording of their albums since.
In 2015, lead vocalist
Hayley Williams
Hayley Nichole Williams (born December 27, 1988) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman who is best known as the lead vocalist, primary songwriter, and keyboardist of the rock band Paramore.
Born and raised in Missi ...
quietly left Paramore for a brief period due to depression. York then remained the only member of Paramore, as bassist
Jeremy Davis
Jeremiah Clayton "Jeremy" Davis (born February 8, 1985), also known as Jerm, is an American musician, songwriter, and rapper. He was the bassist for the rock band Paramore until his departure in December 2015.
Early life
In 2002, at the age of ...
later left the band and embroiled York and Williams in a lawsuit over ownership and authorship of songs on Paramore's
self-titled fourth record. Williams has praised York as someone who helped keep her alive during her depression. She also cites him as the reason Paramore is still a band and did not break up.
Discography
With Paramore
* ''
Brand New Eyes
''Brand New Eyes'' (stylized in all lowercase) is the third studio album by American rock band Paramore, released on September 29, 2009, through Fueled by Ramen in the United States and Canada. The album was produced by Rob Cavallo and recorded ...
'' (2009) – guitar, glockenspiel, keyboards
* ''
Singles Club'' (2011) – guitar, drums
* ''
Paramore
Paramore is an American rock band from Franklin, Tennessee, formed in 2004. The band currently consists of lead vocalist Hayley Williams, guitarist Taylor York and drummer Zac Farro. Williams and Farro are founding members of the group, whil ...
'' (2013) – guitar, keyboards, ukulele, percussion, programming, additional drums
* ''
After Laughter
''After Laughter'' is the fifth studio album by American rock band Paramore. It was released on May 12, 2017, through Fueled by Ramen, as a follow-up to their self-titled album ''Paramore'' (2013). The album was produced by guitarist Taylor Yor ...
'' (2017) – backing vocals, guitars, keyboards,
programming, percussion,
marimba
The marimba () is a musical instrument in the percussion family that consists of wooden bars that are struck by mallets. Below each bar is a resonator pipe that amplifies particular harmonics of its sound. Compared to the xylophone, the timbre ...
,
production
Production may refer to:
Economics and business
* Production (economics)
* Production, the act of manufacturing goods
* Production, in the outline of industrial organization, the act of making products (goods and services)
* Production as a stati ...
, additional
mixing,
engineering
Engineering is the use of scientific method, scientific principles to design and build machines, structures, and other items, including bridges, tunnels, roads, vehicles, and buildings. The discipline of engineering encompasses a broad rang ...
* ''
This Is Why
''This Is Why'' is the upcoming sixth studio album by American rock band Paramore, set to be released on February 10, 2023, through Atlantic Records. It is the band's first album in nearly six years, following ''After Laughter'' (2017), as well ...
'' (2023) – backing vocals, glockenspiel, guitar, keyboards, programming,
vibraphone
The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...
, composition
Guest
;Hayley Williams
* ''
Petals for Armor I'' – production, additional instrumentation
* ''
Petals for Armor II'' – production, additional instrumentation
* ''
Petals for Armor
''Petals for Armor'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer-songwriter Hayley Williams. It was released on May 8, 2020, by Atlantic Records. The album was preceded by two extended plays (EPs), ''Petals for Armor I'' and '' Petals for Ar ...
'' – production, additional instrumentation
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:York, Taylor
Date of birth unknown
Grammy Award winners
Living people
Paramore members
Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee
American rock guitarists
American male guitarists
Guitarists from Tennessee
1989 births