As you probably know by now, earlier this week, Paramore invited MTV News into the studio, where they're working with producer Rob Cavallo on their third album, tentatively due in September.
Now, while we're not allowed to write about everything we saw (and heard) just yet, we'd be remiss if we didn't share one bit of top-secret studio story with you: Paramore are pretty terrible at basketball.
See, the "studio" they're working in is actually attached to Cavallo's house, and right next to it is a regulation hoop, which means that after laying down a vocal track, Hayley Williams can wander outside and shoot some free throws. Josh Farro can record a guitar solo, then drain some threes. This is theraputic ... a break from the monotony and minutiae of making an album.
And since they've been doing this for more than a month now, you would think they'd be getting pretty good at basketball. Well, you'd be wrong. And we have photographic proof of this, which you can see after the jump Read more...
On Monday, MTV News headed into the winding hills of Calabasas, California, to producer Rob Cavallo's palatial estate (seriously, he's got a regulation basketball hoop and a soft-serve machine in the garage), where Paramore are hard at work on their new album.
At first, it seemed like a rather odd place — a suburb in the middle of nowhere — for a platinum-plus rock act to be hammering away on their new album, but it seems like the surroundings have only brought out the best in the guys (and gal), judging from their sunny demeanors, lack of haggard studio beards, and, well the six brand-new songs we heard.
And while we can't say anything about the new tunes just yet (but know that they do, in fact, rock pretty hard), we do have one rather HUGE bit of news that we can break to you: a release date for the record!
When? Well, read on to find out!
Read more...
Hayley Williams might just be the best girlfriend ever. That's because, over the weekend, the fire-haired Paramore frontwoman got her boyfriend — New Found Glory guitarist Chad Gilbert — and his entire band custom-made Snuggies in celebration of their new album, Not Without a Fight. That's love. For real.
And while the NFG Snuggies are pretty great (we dig airbrushing in any form), we couldn't help but think that perhaps Hayley left a lot on the table with this one. After all, at this point, Snuggies are positively passé. YouTube is crawling with parodies of the low-budget "blanket with sleeves" commercial. Bill Maher did a "New Rules" spot on them. And last week, Jimmy Fallon swathed his entire audience (and Tracy Morgan) in Snuggies for a bit on "Late Night." Enough, we dare say, is enough.
See, there are plenty of other "as seen on TV" products Hayley could have gotten for her beloved instead of a Snuggie. So if she's looking for another gift idea (or if Gilbert would like to return the favor when Paramore finish their new album), we've compiled some of the best below.
The ShamWow: A bastardized version of the chamois your dad used to dry his Pontiac, as pitched by a skeezy guy named Vince. The ShamWow's biggest claim to fame is that it can hold "12 times its weight in liquid," which makes it the perfect gift for cleaning up the mess left behind by those boozy backstage blowouts, or whenever NFG drummer Cyrus Bolooki spontaneously combusts. Read more...
By Angelique Smith and Kathleen Newman-Bremang
In honor of Britney Spears' return to the road, MTV takes you all the way back to 2004, when Brit last set out on her Onyx Hotel Tour.
The Jonas Brothers' road to pop-culture domination hit a rough patch this weekend. The boys' "3D Concert Experience" underperformed at the box office. Looks like Nick, Joe and Kevin will just have to settle for selling out arenas instead of theatres.
Paramore's leading lady is still on the market. Contrary to reports by a Canadian blogger, Hayley Williams is not engaged to Chad from New Found Glory.
Chris Brown was photographed on a jet ski just three weeks after the alleged altercation between him and Rih Rih. If this was before the domestic-violence case, no eyebrows would be raised; now, however, it creates concern and raises many questions.
Beyoncé, R&B's reigning diva, finally opens up about life with Jay-Z. While in the public eye, she is all put-together, but she reveals her messy side — a side that Jay-Z actually gets bothered by.

Traditionally, the week between Christmas and New Years is what’s known as a “dead zone” around here, primarily because, well, the music industry usually takes that week off too. Still, we in the news business still need to generate content, so we tend to publish "evergreen" stories that might be light on actual news, but still feature artists that people care about in the headlines.
Anyway, here's a prime example of one: A light story about Paramore working on their new album, which we published early in the morning on December 29 and did not have big expectations for. But here's what's funny — sometime around New Year's Eve, this tiny Paramore story became a very big deal. Or, at least the picture associated with it did.
Seems that, to most Paramore fans, the picture gave them their first glimpse at frontwoman Hayley Williams' new two-tone hairdo. The 'do became a rather contentious subject on sites like AbsolutePunk and Oh No They Didn't!, with the overwhelming majority of commenters giving it a resounding thumbs down (though some went to great lengths to point out that, despite the fact they didn't like Williams' new hairstyle, they would, for the record, "still hit it"). And in the days since, the chatter has yet to die down, which means that: a) people have a lot of free time on their hands, b) this is clearly a big deal, and c) we needed to do a blog listing some of the most disastrous hairstyles in history.
So, after the jump, we've done just that — compiled a list of some of the hugest hair-tastrophes of all time. Does Williams' new skunk-do rank amongst the very worst? Read on. Read more...
Tags afro, Amy Winehouse, bad, beehive, bill kaulitz, David Bowie, Felicity, hair, hayley williams, mullet, phil-spector, Ziggy Stardust
FROM THE mtvU WOODIES BLOG: The presidential election isn't the only important election under way right now. The Woodies — the definitive college music awards — are decided by YOU, the people. Who is fit to lead the Woodie brigade? Lil Wayne? What about Paramore? Perhaps you'd feel more confident if Tokyo Police Club, MGMT or Santogold won the award.
Find out how you can cast your vote for Woodie of the Year over at the mtvU Woodies Blog.
At this point, Paramore have been out on the road in support of Riot! for so long that they can probably play the album back-to-front while standing on their heads and chucking Frisbees into the crowd. (Note: They should totally do this if they haven't already.)
But lo! The end is near ... because on July 28, they'll embark on "The Final Riot!," a summer tour which, if you couldn't guess by the name, will be their final jaunt of 2008 and the last time you'll get to see them before they've got a brand-new album to promote (an album that firecracker-y frontwoman Hayley Williams talked to MTV News about earlier this month).
So if you haven't caught Paramore live yet (were you in jail or something?), well, you better get cracking. As an added bonus, Jack's Mannequin, Phantom Planet and Paper Route are all coming along for the ride too. Full dates after the jump. Read more...