Taylor Swift has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame, where she used her speech to recall a long-running prank involving country singer Brad Paisley and thousands of live crickets.
The 36-year-old attended the 56th Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame Gala at Music City Center in Nashville, Tennessee, on Monday night. It was her second hall of fame induction this year.
Paisley introduced Swift at the ceremony, while Lainey Wilson performed her song “Love Story”. Swift also posed for photographs with both country stars.
Addressing Paisley during her speech, Swift said: “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 prank reportedly took place when Swift opened for Paisley on his Bonfires & Amplifiers Tour. She joked that she had considered buying a “pet lizard” to deal with the insects.
Swift later suggested the pair had put the incident behind them, saying Paisley had done “such a good job at that introduction… I think we’re good now”.
She also thanked Wilson for performing and praised her new single, “Kinda Love It”, which she said she had been playing repeatedly.
Swift was inducted alongside Lyle Lovett, Bruce Channel, Shawn Camp and Lee Thomas Miller, as well as the late J.I. Allison of Buddy Holly and the Crickets.
