Aaron Lewis Reacts to Shredded Album Cover in Taylor Swift Merchandise Box

Aaron Lewis, the lead singer of Staind, was surprised when a fan discovered shredded pieces of his upcoming album cover used as packaging in a Taylor Swift merchandise box. The incident came to light through a social media post by Lewis, responding to an unboxing video. The fan had pieced together the paper revealing the cover of Lewis’s unreleased album, “Give Me Back My Country”.

Lewis was puzzled by the discovery. “Oh look, there’s my new album, that hasn’t even been released yet, shredded as packaging paper in Taylor Swift merch,” he wrote. The album, scheduled for release on July 17 by Big Machine Label Group, faced this unexpected exposure before its official launch.

Lewis shared his bemusement with USA Today, noting, “I don’t have any social media. I never used it, even when I was younger.” He expressed that the incident felt odd, given that his trust was placed in distribution companies to handle his material responsibly. He added, “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.”

Although Lewis could not understand how the album cover ended up in the merchandise box, he did not blame Taylor Swift. He pointed out, “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.” Lewis clarified he had no intention of promoting his record through this incident.

Neither Big Machine Label Group nor Universal Music Group, overseeing product management and merchandising, responded immediately to requests for comment.