Country singer and Staind frontman Aaron Lewis was left shocked after discovering pages from his upcoming album were shredded and used as packing material inside Taylor Swift merchandise boxes. The mix-up has sparked confusion and raised questions about how unreleased album materials ended up being used for packaging.
Lewis, who is known for his solo country career and as the lead singer of the rock band Staind, found out about the situation after a fan posted an unboxing video on social media. The video showed the fan piecing together shredded paper that revealed the cover and artwork of his forthcoming album “Give Me Back My Country,” which is not scheduled to release until July 17 through Big Machine Label Group.
“What Is Going On?” Aaron Lewis Reacts to the Unexpected Packing Material Mix-Up
In response to the video, Lewis took to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday and expressed his disbelief.
“Oh look, there’s my new album, that hasn’t even been released yet, shredded as packaging paper in Taylor Swift merch. Ain’t that some s—.”
The fan who posted the video had initially thought the shredded paper contained hidden Swift lyrics, a common occurrence known as “Easter eggs” that the pop star often includes for her fans. However, instead of clues about Swift’s music, the packaging featured Lewis’ album art, lyrics, and booklet pages.
Lewis told USA Today that he only learned about the incident through his team because he does not use social media himself.
“I don’t have any social media. I didn’t have it when I was younger. It’s never felt important to me,” he said. “I never even had a MySpace. So I don’t see anything of that type of stuff. And when this was brought to me, I was just like, ‘What is going on? This is just weird.’”
How Did Aaron Lewis’ Unreleased Album Pages End Up in Taylor Swift’s Merchandise Boxes?
Lewis expressed deep confusion about how materials from his brand-new album ended up as packing filler. The album is being released through Big Machine Label Group, which is Taylor Swift’s former label, and the merchandise is handled by Universal Music Group.
“That’s the cover to my brand new record that hasn’t even been put out yet,” he said. “As artists, we put our trust in the distribution companies to get our material way up front and trust that they’ll be responsible with what it is that we give them.”
He was particularly puzzled because the album is brand new, not old stock that could have been easily mistaken for scrap paper.
“I don’t know how this happened,” he admitted. “I hate to think it’s malicious, but at the same time, I don’t know that it’s not.”
“I haven’t even put the record out yet,” he continued. “It’s not like it’s old stuff that was just sitting around that they decided to make packing material out of. It’s my new record. I just don’t understand how something like that can happen.”
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Aaron Lewis Clarifies He Does Not Blame Taylor Swift for the Packaging Mistake
Despite the strange circumstances, Lewis made it clear that he does not hold Taylor Swift responsible for the mistake. He met Swift once in 2016 at an event in Nashville when both were associated with Big Machine Records.
“We live in two very, very different worlds. And she’s such a huge star that her world doesn’t intertwine with anyone’s worlds,” he said.
“I certainly wouldn’t be trying to bring her into this or blame her for anything. It just so happens that it was my record cover in her gift box for her fans.”
He also made sure to clarify that he is not trying to use this situation as a way to promote his new record.
“I don’t want people to think that this was an opportunity to promote my new record,” Lewis said.
