Shania Twain

SHE may not be an outlaw in the tradition of Waylon and Willie, but in the eyes of Nashville, Shania Twain is a renegade nonetheless. Putting aside her inclination to bare her navel (a no-no in Music City USA), the Canadian-born singer can lay claim to the title of most successful crossover artist in country music history. Not only do her singles regularly invade both the pop and country charts, but she's among the elite few Nashville artists to nab a cover on Rolling Stone (Tanya Tucker managed to do so in 1974, Garth Brooks in 1993). Moreover, diehard traditionalists notwithstanding, Twain's five-year recording career has seen her garner enough country music awards to fill the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Even the name "Shania"—the origin of which lies in the language of the Ojibway Indian tribe—translates roughly into the phrase, "I'm on my way."

Born August 28, 1965, in Windsor, Ontario, Eileen "Shania" Twain and her four siblings were reared in Timmins, Ontario (located some 500 miles north of Toronto), by her mother Sharon and adoptive father Jerry Twain. A forester and prospector by trade (and an Ojibway Indian himself), Jerry Twain rarely had steady work, and the family's financial circumstances were often dire. Music, if not money, was a constant in the household, and as a toddler Twain delighted in the songs of Waylon Jennings, Tammy Wynette, and Willie Nelson, as well as in those of various pop artists of the day. She showed promise as a singer even as a pre-schooler, and by the time she was 8, she was playing guitar, writing songs, and performing publicly, often roused from sleep by her parents to perform at local watering holes after 1 a.m., when the minor was allowed on liquor-serving premises.

Pinning much hope on her daughter's talents, Sharon Twain encouraged Shania's aspirations throughout her high school years, and the fledgling singer-songwriter divided her summers between working at McDonald's, helping her father, and fronting Top 40 cover bands. Upon graduating, she headed to Toronto to pursue music more seriously. In 1987, however, Twain's world was shattered by tragedy when both her parents were killed in a car crash. Returning home to care for her younger siblings, she began supporting the household by singing and dancing at Ontario's Deerhurst Resort, where the experience of combining music with theatrical performance helped her develop a feel for showmanship that would later be put to good use.

Twain continued to write during this period, and her first manager eventually succeeded in persuading a representative of Mercury Records in Nashville to listen to her demo tape. Impressed by Twain's compositional skills, the executive signed the young singer, who was then still known as Eileen Twain. Stating that her first and last names didn't flow well together, he also urged her to change her surname. Considering such an alteration an insult to her father's memory, Twain instead opted to change her first name, settling on the Ojibway moniker so well known today.

In a bittersweet twist of fate, Twain's first album featured only one of her original songs. Released in early 1993, the self-titled debut garnered little attention. Fortunately, however, after seeing her midriff-baring video for the song "What Made You Say That," veteran rock producer Robert "Mutt" Lange determined he had to meet the woman behind the navel.

Lange—whose credits include albums by AC/DC, Def Leppard, the Cars, and Bryan Adams—began work with Twain on her second album in late 1993. In December of that year, the pair sealed their futures together in a more fundamental way: they got married. Though some have speculated that Twain saw in Lange her own personal Svengali (interestingly, she counts Bo Derek—no stranger to Svengali-types—among her closest friends), all evidence indicates that the two are deeply in love. Of course, love didn't prevent the couple from ratcheting Twain's career up into the stratosphere.

Released in February 1995, Twain's second album, The Woman in Me, did considerably better than its predecessor, eventually selling more than 10 million copies to easily surpass sales records of any previous album by a female country artist. Propelled by the accusatory, yet peppy, number "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?", the album went on to spawn seven more hit singles, half of which reached No. 1 on the country charts. Nonetheless, The Woman in Me met with predictable backlash. Many country diehards complained either about its cost ($500,000—exorbitant by Nashville standards), its lyrics (overly assertive for a woman by Nashville standards), or about the simple fact that Twain wasn't a product of Nashville (not acceptable by Nashville standards).

More hurtful by far, however, was an article published in Twain's hometown newspaper asserting that she had lied about her heritage. The piece accused her—erroneously, it turns out—of falsely claiming Indian ancestry (her biological father is French-Irish) in order to lend a "mythic" element to her background. Lost in the furor was the fact that Twain had donated all the proceeds from two hit singles—"Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore)" and "God Bless the Child"—to organizations that provide food for underprivileged children.

Perhaps one of the grandest indicators of Twain's enduring success and acceptance into the singing elite came in April 1998, when she was invited to perform at VH1's Divas Live concert, an intimate gathering that featured contemporary music's foremost singers. Twain held her own alongside the legendary Aretha Franklin, as well as contemporary divas Celine, Mariah, and Gloria. The momentous occasion was documented on the CD Divas Live, released in October 1998.

One of the greater concerns of Twain's fans (if not of her record label) has been her refusal to perform on a large scale in support of her albums. In tandem with the release of 1997's Come on Over, however, she promised to rectify that small glitch in a career otherwise in perfect trajectory. Happily, 1998 saw her make good on her word: The singer embarked on a North American tour that will see her eventually touch down in more than 60 cities, and her popularity shows no sign of abating. Reviews of Twain's shows have been mixed, but no such similar ambivalence has been noted at ticket counters. Meanwhile, sales of Come on Over have surpassed the 17 million mark.

Emerging in the mid-'90s, Shania Twain became the most popular country music artist since Garth Brooks. Skillfully fusing mainstream, AOR rock production with country-pop, Twain and her producer/husband, Robert John "Mutt" Lange, created a commercial juggernaut with her second album, The Woman in Me. The record became a multi-platinum phenomenon, peaking at number five on the pop charts and eventually selling over nine million copies in America alone. Twain might have sold a lot of records, but like other mega-selling acts before her, she earned few good reviews -- most critics accused her of diluting country with bland, anthemic hard rock techniques and shamelessly selling her records with sexy videos. Fans ignored such complaints, mainly because her audience was comprised of many listeners who had grown accustomed to such marketing strategies by constant exposure to MTV. And Twain, in many ways, was the first country artist to fully exploit MTV's style. She created a sexy, video-oriented image -- she didn't even tour during the year when The Woman in Me was on the top of the country charts -- that appealed not only to the country audience, but also to pop fans. In turn, she became a country music phenomenon.

Twain was born in Windsor, Ontario, and raised in the small, rural town of Timmins, Ontario. As a child, she learned to play guitar at an early age and would spend much of her time singing, writing, and playing. Early on in her musical development, her parents pushed her on-stage, making her perform frequently around their little town; often, she would be pulled out of bed around one in the morning to sing at local bars, since as a child she could only appear in the clubs after they had stopped serving alcohol. In addition to bars, she sang on local radio and television stations and community events. When she was 21 years old, both of her parents died in a car crash, forcing her to take responsibility for her four siblings. In order to pay the bills and keep food on the table, she took a job singing at a resort in Deerhurst. With the money she earned at the resort, she bought a house and had the family settle down.

At the resort, she sang show tunes, from George Gershwin to Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as a little country. Twain stayed there for three years, at the end of which all of her siblings had begun lives of their own. When she was finally independent again, she assembled a demo tape of her songs, and her manager set up a showcase concert in Canada. Twain caught the attention of a few insiders with the concert, and within a few months Mercury Nashville had signed her to their roster. Her eponymous debut album was released in 1993, and although it wasn't a major hit, it performed respectably in the United States, launching two minor hit singles, "What Made You Say That" and "Dance with the One That Brought You"; in Europe, the album was more successful and Country Music Television Europe named her Rising Video Star of the Year.

Shortly after the release of Shania Twain, the singer met and fell in love with Robert John "Mutt" Lange, a hard rock producer known for his work with AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, and the Cars. Lange had been wanting to move into country music for a while, and after hearing Twain's debut album, he decided to get in contact with her with the intention of working on an album. By the end of the year, the pair had married and begun working on her second record. The two either wrote or co-wrote the material that eventually formed The Woman in Me.

The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995. Its first single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?," went to number 11 early in the year, quickly followed by "Any Man of Mine," which became her first number one single in the spring. The album's title track went to number 14 in the fall, while the fourth single, "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!," rocketed to number one toward the end of the year; early in 1996 "No One Needs to Know" became her third number one hit. By the beginning of 1996, The Woman in Me had sold over six million copies and broken the record for the most weeks spent at number one on the country charts. During the course of 1996, it would rack another three million in sales. Come on Over followed in 1997. She spent the next two years touring the globe in support of the album; by the end of 1999, Come on Over had sold 36 million copies.

Twain took a sabbatical and returned to her Swiss home for some down time with her husband. The next summer, she and Lange welcomed their first child. A son, whom they named Eja, arrived August 21, 2001. During this time, Twain brainstormed for a fourth album. While balancing a domestic life and a career, the end result was Up!, which appeared in November 2002.

Up! was released to considerable fanfare - not only was it accompanied by a huge publicity blitz but it appeared in three different mixes, designed to appeal to country, pop and international audiences - and it initially was a big success, selling over 870,000 copies in the US upon its first week and debuting at number one in the Billboard charts, but despite such hits as “I'm Gonna Getcha Good!” and “Forever and For Always,” it failed to have the same kind of staying power as The Woman In Me or Come On Over. Those two albums sold over 10 million copies a piece in the US, whereas Up! sold 5.5 million -- an impressive number that only pales when compared to her track record. As Up! worked its way down the charts, Shania released a Greatest Hits album in the holiday season of 2004; the compilation was a great success, going triple platinum in the US, where it peaked at number two on the Billboard charts. In the wake of Greatest Hits, Twain spent the next few years quietly, working on several non-music related projects and appearing only on soundtracks. As of 2007, she was still working on her follow-up to Up!. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide