Taylor Swift Says Brad Paisley Filled Her Tour Bus With ‘Thousands’ of Crickets in Prank That Went ‘Too Far’: ‘We’ve Been Estranged Since’

Taylor Swift took the stage at the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame on Monday night, and while she didn’t give audiences an update on when they can expect new music, she did reveal she and Brad Paisley still have “Bad Blood” from a tour prank gone wrong nearly 20 years ago.

“Thank you so much for that induction,” Swift began. (Paisley introduced Swift, who, at 36, is the youngest artist to ever be given the honor.) “I’m really surprised to see you here actually because we’ve been estranged since 2007. I think you know why. He took a tour prank too far, filling my entire tour bus with live crickets. Thousands of them. For months, I couldn’t sleep. Just chip, chirp, chirp, all night.”

The incident occurred when Swift opened for Paisley on the singer’s “Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour,” and Swift even admitted that she “considered buying a pet lizard to eradicate the problem.” “It was a dark time, but you know what? You did such an amazing job at that introduction… I think we’re good now.”

Before Swift was honored, Lainey Wilson performed a rendition of the singer’s hit single, “Love Story,” released in 2008 as the lead single from “Fearless,” her second studio album. “First of all, I want to say thank you to Lainey Wilson, who I just think is one of the coolest people in the world for saying yes and doing that,” said Swift. “I’ve had her new single on repeat. It just puts me in the best mood. It’s called ‘Kinda Love It.’ Check it out.”

Swift’s debut album, the self-titled “Taylor Swift,” turned 20 on Saturday. To mark the occasion, Variety’s Chris Willman unearthed a previously unpublished Q&A with the singer before she was the biggest pop star in the world.

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