Eric Church’s Costly Bad Behavior Gave Taylor Swift the Opportunity of a Lifetime

Taylor Swift got a major opportunity to open for Rascal Flatts on tour, at least partially because of Eric Church. Church was the original opener, but the band fired him after a show at Madison Square Garden. A delighted Swift took over, and she later wrote a thank you note to Church for behaving in a way that got him fired.

Taylor Swift joined a tour after Eric Church got booted

In 2006, Church joined Rascal Flatts on tour. He played too long during multiple shows, leading to fines for the band. Eventually, they let him go.

“Less than 10 days in, he got kicked off the tour after a show at Madison Square Garden,” Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum CEO Kyle Young said, per iHeartCountry. “The story goes like this: (Church) ran way over time on his opening slot that night, as he had on several other shows. Played too loud, too long, and maybe tried a little too hard to be a hard act to follow. Eric later said he was aiming to get fired. He just didn’t fit into that tour. He didn’t feel he could be himself and the artist he needed to be.”

Rascal Flatts contacted Swift, and she took Church’s spot at the next show. She was in the early stages of her career at that point, and this was a gigantic opportunity for her. When she got her first gold record, she sent it to Church with a thank you note.

“Eric, thanks for playing too long on the Flatts tour,” she wrote. “I sincerely appreciate it.”

Within a couple of years, Swift was headlining her own tours.