TWAIN, SHANIA

TWAIN, SHANIA (b. Timmins, Ontario, August 28, killed in an automobile accident. From singing glitzy 1965) Vegas-style material, she decided to jumpon the coun- Twain is an impossibly perky Canadian songstress try bandwagon, coming to Nashville in 1991. who has become a major pop phenomenon. Twain was quickly signed by Mercury Records, hit- Twain grew upin relative povertyin the backwoods ting it big with her sexy video presence on her first of Ontario. She has been singing since the age of three, single, “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under.” winning talent shows from the age of eight, and per- The album produced more hits, including “Any Man forming locally and on national television since her of Mine” and “(If You’re Not in It for Love) I’m Out early teens. She trained as a Broadway-style singer/ of Here.” All of the songs were marked by a spunky dancer/performer in Toronto, then began performing in the resort town of Deerhurst after her parents were forthrightness in their lyrics that appealed strongly to women, while the sexy underpinning—and basically romantic and nonthreatening message—made the songs attractive to men. The album eventually went nine times platinum, and remained on the charts for nearly 200 weeks. The album teamed her with pop-rock producer Rob- ert “Mutt” Lange, who coauthored many of her hits and was soon her husband. The duo returned big time with Twain’s 1997 album, Come On Over. Although a “country” album in name, it was really mainstream pop in the style of singers like Gloria Estefan and Ce- line Dion. The album was a monster seller, producing many tophits, including the big ballads “You’re Still the One” and “From This Moment” (recorded as a duet with BRYAN WHITE on the album, but released as a solo single) and the spunky “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Don’t Be Stupid,” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” (with a video parodying pop singer Robert Palmer’s famous “Simply Irresistible” clip, replacing the babes-with-guitars with a set of hunky he-men). This last song was used in an advertising campaign by Revlon that featured Twain. The album has broken all records, selling over 18 million copies to date, spawn- ing eight hit singles, and becoming, by Billboard’s esti- mation, the best-selling recording by a female artist of all time, in any genre. Twain took some recording time off in 1998 and 1999 after promoting her second megaselling hit through tours and TV appearances. She gave birth to her first child in 2001, and is said to be at work on her much-anticipated follow-up album. Whether she can remain a pop diva is anybody’s guess; but with her canny producer/husband and her own catchy, ap- pealing songs, it is probable that her core audience will stick with her at least for one more album.

Select Discography (slide) Shania Twain in concert, c. 1998. Photograph by Shania Twain, Mercury 514422. 1993 debut album. Raeanne Rubenstein

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