Paramore's Hayley Williams Explains How TRL Worked, Jokes, 'Sounds Like I'm Talking About the 1950s'

Millennials all remember racing home after school in time to sit down and catch up TRL.

NBC News Studios My generation looks back at MTV Total request live (TRL), and what it meant to millennials who were growing up and developing their own musical tastes during that period in the late 90s.

“Total request live was a countdown show that relied on votes to decide which was the #1 music video in the country,” shares Paramore’s Hayley Williams.

“Lord, when I talk about it now it literally sounds like I’m talking about the 1950s,” she adds, laughing.

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Carson Daly and Britney Spears on TRL in the 2000s.

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Carson Daly Throwback Photos from TRL Days

Voted on by people across the country, the results became an eclectic countdown of hip-hop hits between bubblegum pop, alternative rock and country anthems.

“There was a time when I probably wouldn’t admit I was listening to *NSYNC,” Williams says.

“But let’s be real – I wouldn’t have learned five-part harmony or how to structure a vocal arrangement if I hadn’t grown up on pop music that had complex vocal arrangements,” she continues. “To this day, I look back on those memories and think, ‘That’s why I’m here.’ ”

Carson Daly interviewed Destiny’s Child on TRL in 2001.

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Carson Daly’s MTV show wasn’t the only place millennials turned to for new music. The social media network MySpace has also quickly become a place for music discovery and for artists, an opportunity to reach new fans and achieve great success.

“I vividly remember the days on MySpace. Now we’re touring all over the world, and I know that wouldn’t have happened if we hadn’t built the kind of community we’ve built online,” Williams says of Paramore’s success.

“We’d often post photos of ourselves and change profile photos. We’d change our Top 8 to reflect the bands we were listening to or touring at the time, and we’d answer every MySpace message we could.”

Learn about the moments that made millennials, as told by Kristen Bell, at My generation.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education