Aaron Lewis, frontman of the band Staind, recently discovered an unexpected use for his upcoming album cover. It appeared shredded as packaging in a Taylor Swift merchandise box. On social media, Lewis responded to a fan’s video showing pieces of the shredded album cover, titled “Give Me Back My Country,” in Swift’s merch. “Oh look, there’s my new album, that hasn’t even been released yet, shredded as packaging paper in Taylor Swift merch,” he wrote. “Ain’t that some s—.”
The album is scheduled for release on July 17 through Big Machine Label Group. Lewis expressed his surprise at the situation. “I don’t have any social media,” he shared with USA Today. “I didn’t have it when I was younger. It’s never felt important to me. 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.'”
“That’s the cover to my brand new record that hasn’t even been put out yet,” Lewis 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.”
Lewis remains uncertain how this situation occurred. “I hate to think it’s malicious, but at the same time, I don’t know that it’s not,” he noted. “I haven’t even put the record out yet. It’s not like it’s old stuff that was just sitting around. It’s my new record. I just don’t understand how something like that can happen.”
Despite the mix-up, Lewis bears no ill will towards Swift. He acknowledged their separate worlds, noting, “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. 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.”
Representatives for Big Machine Label Group and Universal Music Group did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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