Shania Twain
Country, Pop, Rock • Windsor, Canada
Shania Twain
Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain (born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter who became the best-selling female artist in country music history. With over 100 million records sold worldwide, she stands among the most successful recording artists of all time and earned the title "Queen of Country Pop."
Twain grew up in Timmins, Ontario, where she began singing professionally at age eight to help support her family. After her parents' death in 1987, she raised her younger siblings while pursuing music. In the early 1990s, she signed with Mercury Nashville Records and released a self-titled debut album that initially underperformed. Her breakthrough came with producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, whom she married in 1993. Their collaboration on The Woman in Me (1995) launched her to stardom, earning a Grammy Award and establishing her as a crossover phenomenon.
Twain's third album, Come On Over (1997), became a defining commercial and cultural milestone. The album sold over 40 million copies worldwide—the best-selling album by a female solo artist—and spawned twelve hit singles including "You're Still the One," "That Don't Impress Me Much," and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" Her ability to blend country with pop elements opened country music to mainstream audiences and made her a global icon. The album earned her four Grammy Awards and dominated charts internationally for years.
In 2004, at the height of her career, Twain withdrew from public life due to Lyme disease and dysphonia, which threatened her voice. She documented her vocal recovery on an OWN miniseries and gradually returned to performing with Las Vegas residencies and touring. She released her sixth studio album, Queen of Me, in 2023, following a 15-year gap since Now (2017).
Throughout her career, Twain has received five Grammy Awards, multiple inductions to music halls of fame, and recognition as the highest-grossing female country touring artist. She holds the distinction of being the only female artist with three consecutive Diamond-certified albums. Her innovative approach to country-pop crossover transformed the genre and inspired generations of artists.
Quotes
“My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought, 'I hate this.' I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived.”
“My father [Jerry Twain] went out of his way to raise three daughters that weren't even his. For me to acknowledge another man as my father, a man who was never there for me as a father, who wasn't the one who struggled every day to put food on our table, would have hurt him terribly.”
“I loved the feeling of being stranded. I'm not afraid of being in my own environment, being physical, working hard. I was very strong, I walked miles and miles every day and carried heavy loads of trees.”
Career Timeline
Queen of Me album release
Sixth studio album that debuted at No. 10 on US Billboard 200 and No. 1 on UK Albums Chart
Now album release
Fifth studio album released after 15-year gap, debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200
Still the One residency
Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace from December 2012 to December 2014
Up! album release
Fourth studio album released with three different discs (country/acoustic, pop/rock, world/dance), debuted at No. 1 on Billboard 200
Come On Over Tour begins
First major concert tour that won Country Tour of the Year in 1998 and 1999
Come On Over
Third studio album that became the best-selling studio album by a female solo artist with over 40 million copies sold worldwide
The Woman in Me
Second studio album that brought widespread success, sold over 20 million copies worldwide and won Grammy Award for Best Country Album
Self-titled debut album
Released debut studio album that initially failed commercially but was later certified platinum in 1999
