Hayley Williams Charts Her First Solo No. 1 Hit

Hayley Williams’s “True Believer” debuts at No. 1 on the Alternative Digital Song Sales chart, becoming her first solo chart-topper and a new top 10 on another Billboard list. HAMBURG, GERMANY – JULY 23: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO STANDALONE PUBLICATION USE (NO SPECIAL INTEREST OR SINGLE ARTIST PUBLICATION USE; NO BOOK USE)) Hayley Williams of Paramore performs onstage during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at Volksparkstadion on July 23, 2024 in Hamburg, Germany. (Photo by Gregor Fischer/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management )

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20 years ago, Hayley Williams emerged as one of the most exciting new female voices in rock music as the lead singer of the group Paramore. She broke barriers and found incredible success during the pop-punk revival in the early aughts, and in the decades since, Paramore has continued to chart big hits and successful albums.

Williams has also embarked on a solo career — though not one which has distracted from her work with the band that made her well-known in the first place. Recently, Williams delivered a slew of new tunes for fans to enjoy, and while only one reaches the Billboard charts, it does help her score an important champion.

Hayley Williams Scores Her First Solo No. 1

Williams’s new track “True Believer” launches at No. 1 on the Alternative Digital Song Sales chart. As it arrives, the singer-songwriter scores her first leader on the list of the bestselling alternative tracks throughout the United States.

Multiple Top 10 Bestsellers

Williams has previously reached the Alternative Digital Song Sales list with three tracks, so her solo count is now up to four in total. One of them, “Simmer,” opened at No. 10 in February of 2020, and until this frame, it held as her only top 10 success on the tally.

“True Believer” Launches at No. 5

“True Believer” also finds its way to the highest tier on the Rock Digital Song Sales chart, where it opens at No. 5. The solo cut ties “Simmer” as her highest-rising win, while a collaboration with the band Weezer, “Rainbow Connection,” also reached No. 23 more than a decade ago.

“True Believer” Becomes a General Bestseller

The new Williams cut sold just well enough to make it to one other Billboard tally, the Digital Song Sales chart. Unlike the other two rankings, which are focused entirely on one genre, the Digital Song Sales list is style-agnostic, and “True Believer” opens in last place at No. 25. Luminate reports that in its first full tracking frame of availability, the tune sold just over 1,700 copies — barely enough to help it land on the competitive roster.

“Airplanes” with B.o.B and “Stay the Night” with Zedd

“True Believer” is not one of Williams’s biggest wins on the Digital Song Sales tally, as it comes in behind “Airplanes” with B.o.B and “Stay the Night” with Zedd, which peaked at Nos. 2 and 16, respectively. The new track does, however, beat her team-up with Taylor Swift, “Castles Crumbling (Taylor’s Version) (From the Vault),” which stalled at No. 36 back when the roster featured 50 spots.

Hayley Williams Drops 17 New Solo Songs

Williams has released two solo albums throughout her career — Petals for Armor and Flowers for Vases/Descansos — in 2020 and 2021, respectively. At the same time that “True Believer” came out, Williams dropped another 16 tunes, which were not featured on any album or compilation, but were available for sale as individual cuts for fans to buy and enjoy.