Joshua Neil Farro (born September 29, 1987) is an American musician, best known as the former lead guitarist and backing vocalist for the 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, w ...

. He is currently pursuing his solo career as the lead vocalist and guitarist of his self-named band Farro. His debut solo album, ''Walkways'', was released in 2016.

Early life

Farro was born in

Voorhees Township, New Jersey Voorhees Township is a township in Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,131, reflecting an increase of 1,005 (+3.6%) from the 28,126 counted in the 2000 census. Voorhee ...

, on September 29, 1987, the second-oldest of five siblings, including

drummer

Zac Farro Zachary Wayne Farro (born June 4, 1990) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band Paramore. He is the younger brother of Josh Farro, who is Paramore's former lead guitarist and backing vocalist. After he and his brot ...

. He is a self-taught guitarist and began playing when he was 13 years old. His family later moved to Franklin, Tennessee.

Career

Paramore (2004–2010)

Along with his younger brother Zac, Farro was a founding member of Paramore, serving as the band's lead guitarist and backing vocalist from 2004 until his exit in late 2010. Farro also co-wrote almost every track on Paramore's first three albums with

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 ...

and occasionally

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. Biography York was born ...

Departure and blog controversy

On December 21, 2010, a blog appeared online claiming to be an official exit statement from the Farro brothers. The blog entry refuted statements made by Paramore's official website regarding the brothers' departure and was heavily critical of

, her family,

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

, and

Fueled by Ramen Fueled by Ramen LLC is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by 300 Elektra Entertainment. The label, founded in Gainesville, Florida in 1996, is now based in New York City. History John Janick conceived of the l ...

. Farro appeared in
video
on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...

claiming that the blog was genuine. The video was quickly removed for reported violations, but Farro re-uploaded it a few days later. Farro, a Christian, cited his and Williams' differing beliefs as a reason for departing Paramore.

Novel American (2011–2014)

On February 2, 2011, Farro announced he had established a

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account for his new band, Novel American. The band included high school friends Van Beasley, Tyler Ward, and Ryan Clark, each formerly of the band Cecil Adora. Unlike in Paramore, Farro relegated himself to guitar in the new project, saying, "I never wanted to sing. My voice — and this is not false humility — is just not that good." On February 22, 2011, the band announced Farro's brother Zac would replace Tyler Ward on drums. However, on May 23, 2014, Farro stated that he had scrapped the project entirely, primarily due to the lack of a suitable vocalist.

Farro (2014–present)

In May 2014, Farro announced on Twitter that he had scrapped his previous band, Novel American, because "nothing was going anywhere". Later that year, he announced the name of his solo project, Farro. His debut single, "Color Rush", was released in November 2014, with a music video appearing on YouTube. Farro released his debut album, ''Walkways'', independently on February 5, 2016. He announced a mini tour to support the album throughout the year. On May 19, 2017, he announced on Twitter that he is writing for his second album.

Personal life

Farro previously dated Paramore singer and bandmate

from 2004 to 2007, and later dated Tabitha Richards in 2009. On April 3, 2010, Farro married fiancée Jenna Rice in Tennessee, missing

's Pacific Rim tour to plan the nuptials. Their daughter was born on January 28, 2018, and their son was born on May 22, 2020. He has four siblings: Nate, Zac, Jonathan, and Isabelle. Farro currently resides in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

Other songs

He was one of three co-writers of the song " This Is Amazing Grace" along with

Jeremy Riddle Jeremy Michael Riddle (born October 18, 1977) is an American Christian musician, songwriter, and worship leader, best known for a long tenure as an ensemble leader with Bethel Music. Background Born in Mount Holly Township, New Jersey Jeremy ...

and

Phil Wickham Philip David Wickham (born April 5, 1984) is a Contemporary Christian musician, singer and songwriter from San Diego, California. Wickham has released nine albums: '' Give You My World'' in 2003, a self-titled album in 2006, ''Cannons'' in 2007 ...

; the song is featured on both

Bethel Music Bethel Music is an American music label and worship movement from Redding, California, originating out of Bethel Church where they started making music in 2001. Bethel Music has grown from being a local church music ministry to a global outreach ...

's (Bethel Church) live CD/DVD ''

For the Sake of the World ''For the Sake of the World'' is the fourth album from California-based worship collective Bethel Music. The album, produced by Brian Johnson, Ian McIntosh and Jeffrey Kunde, was released on 1 October 2012 by the collective's imprint label, Beth ...

'' where Jeremy performed it, as well as on Phil Wickham's album ''The Ascension''.

References

External links

Bio at Paramore.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farro, Josh 1987 births Living people American people of Italian descent American rock guitarists American male guitarists Lead guitarists Singers from New Jersey Paramore members People from Voorhees Township, New Jersey American male singers Guitarists from New Jersey 21st-century American singers American Christians