Taylor York

Taylor Benjamin York (born December 17, 1989) is an American musician who is the guitarist of rock band Paramore. His brother Justin was a touring member of Relient K and was a touring guitarist for Paramore until 2022. York was born the youngest of three boys on December 17, 1989, and raised in Nashville, Tennessee. His father is Peter York, chairman and CEO of Capitol Christian Music Group. 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. York had been in a band with the Farro brothers (Josh and Zac) months before the two met Hayley Williams. 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, 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 since 2007. In September 2022, York confirmed that he is in a relationship with Williams. York has stated that his favorite artists include mewithoutYou, Radiohead, Kent, Yann Tiersen, At the Drive-In, Failure, Björk, Kadawatha, and Paper Route. More recently in interviews, he has cited Afrobeat music as a big influence in his writing for After Laughter. Talking Heads, Fleetwood Mac, Blondie, Paul Simon, The Strokes, Thomas Mapfumo, Tame Impala, and The Cure were also named influences and favorite artists of his. 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!, Hayley Williams, Josh Farro, and Zac Farro included him on their list of "thank yous". He also helped write "That's What You Get" and bonus track "Stop This Song", which his brother Justin York helped write.