“They refused to book us”: I Prevail singer recalls how their Taylor Swift cover backfired

In a new interview with Kerrang!, I Prevail vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe discusses impostor syndrome and his experience of the band’s rise to fame.

To overcome that feeling, he sometimes tries to appreciate how fortunate he is, or immerses himself in songwriting and his passion for music.

“I need to prove to myself that nothing was handed to me on a plate, that nobody simply gave me the keys to the kingdom. When I start telling myself I don’t deserve all this, I work twice as hard…”, he explains.

He believes that unease stems partly from how I Prevail first made their name: their cover of Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, which became a runaway success but also drew plenty of ridicule.

“We struggled to shake off that label of ‘a band that only does covers’. We knew people in the industry who refused to book us for shows because they thought we’d be a flash in the pan.”

He and his bandmates reportedly responded by working twice as hard to prove themselves.

“The whole band was driven by this desire to prove the people who didn’t believe in us wrong.”

That determination carries particular weight today. Since Brian Burkheiser’s controversial departure in May 2025, Vanlerberghe has handled all vocal duties in I Prevail. I Prevail released their fourth album, Violent Nature, in September 2025, to some success with both critics and fans.

The singer had also said he was particularly grateful for the response to the new songs, while acknowledging that some fans remained attached to the band’s previous lineup.