Shania Twain is the stage name of Eilleen Regina Twain, a Canadian singer and songwriter from Windsor, Canada, who is identified with contemporary country, country, country pop, country rock, dance-pop and pop. She is one of the best-selling music artists of all time, with sales of more than 100 million records worldwide, and is the best-selling female artist in the history of country music. Billboard describes her as a major figure in the country-pop crossover movement of the 1990s.

Early life and background

Twain is born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, and grows up in Timmins. She begins singing and writing songs when she is young and performs in bars in Timmins from the age of eight to help support her family. She appears on CBC television's The Tommy Hunter Show at 13. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School, she sings with the local band Longshot. In the early 1980s, she works for her father's reforestation business in northern Ontario and continues writing songs. After graduating from high school in 1983, she tours Ontario with the cover band Flirt, studies singing with vocal coach Ian Garrett, and performs backing vocals for other Canadian musicians.

Her childhood is marked by financial hardship, periods of food insecurity, and family instability. After her parents divorce, her mother moves with the children to Timmins and later marries Jerry Twain, an Ojibwe member of the nearby Mattagami First Nation, who adopts the children. Twain has said her biological ancestry is Irish and French, while recognising her upbringing in her adoptive Ojibwe family. She holds status under the Temagami First Nation through her adoptive father. She later moves to the United States in 1991 after receiving a recording contract in Nashville and obtains legal immigration status under the Jay Treaty.

Recording career

Twain signs with Mercury Nashville Records in the early 1990s and adopts the stage name Shania, although the name's origin remains disputed. Her self-titled debut album, Shania Twain, is released in 1993. It receives modest commercial success initially, reaches number 67 on the US Country Albums chart, is later certified platinum in the United States, and includes the singles "What Made You Say That", "Dance with the One That Brought You" and "You Lay a Whole Lot of Love on Me". Before the album's release, she contributes backing vocals to recordings by Jeff Chance and Sammy Kershaw. She later says she has little creative control over the debut, though she co-writes "God Ain't Gonna Getcha for That".

Twain meets producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange in 1993 after he expresses interest in her songwriting, and they marry later that year. They co-write nearly all of the material on The Woman in Me (1995), which brings her international recognition. The album sells more than 12 million copies in the United States and more than 20 million worldwide, and includes eight singles such as "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?", "Any Man of Mine", "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!", "You Win My Love", "No One Needs to Know" and "The Woman in Me". It wins the Grammy Award for Best Country Album.

Come On Over follows in 1997 and establishes her as an international crossover artist. Twelve of its sixteen tracks are issued as singles, including "Love Gets Me Every Time", "Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)", "You're Still the One", "From This Moment On", "When", "Honey, I'm Home", "That Don't Impress Me Much", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "You've Got a Way", "Come On Over", "Rock This Country!" and "I'm Holdin' On to Love (To Save My Life)". The album reaches number one in several countries, spends a record 99 weeks in the Billboard 200 top 20, becomes the best-selling studio album by a female solo artist, the best-selling country album and the best-selling album by a Canadian artist, and sells more than 40 million copies worldwide. It wins four Grammy Awards and is supported by the Come On Over Tour.

Her fourth studio album, Up! (2002), is issued in country, pop/rock and world/dance editions. It debuts at number one on the Billboard 200 and tops charts in several countries. Its singles include "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!", "Up!", "Ka-Ching!", "Forever and for Always", "Thank You Baby! (For Makin' Someday Come So Soon)", "She's Not Just a Pretty Face", "When You Kiss Me" and "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing". By 2008, the album is certified Diamond in the United States, making Twain the only female artist with three consecutive Diamond-certified albums.

Hiatus, return and later work

After the release of Greatest Hits in 2004, Twain takes an extended break from recording and touring. She later says Lyme disease and dysphonia significantly affect her singing voice. She documents her vocal rehabilitation in the television series Why Not? with Shania Twain, releases "Today Is Your Day" in 2011, and publishes the autobiography From This Moment On. She also records "Endless Love" with Lionel Richie and "White Christmas" with Michael Bublé.

Twain returns to live performance with the Las Vegas residency Shania: Still the One, which runs from 2012 to 2014, and then tours with Rock This Country Tour in 2015, her first major tour in more than a decade. She later says she is not retiring from music. Her fifth studio album, Now, is released in 2017, debuts at number one on the Billboard 200, and is supported by the Now Tour. In 2019, she begins the Las Vegas residency Let's Go!, which concludes in 2022 after postponements caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, the Netflix documentary Not Just a Girl and its companion compilation Not Just a Girl (The Highlights) are released, and Twain signs with Republic Nashville and releases "Waking Up Dreaming". Her sixth studio album, Queen of Me, follows in 2023, with singles including "Giddy Up!" and "Unhealthy", a collaboration with Anne-Marie. The album reaches the top ten in several countries, including number one in the United Kingdom. It is followed by the Queen of Me Tour and a third Las Vegas residency, Shania Twain: Come On Over - The Las Vegas Residency - All The Hits!, which begins in 2024 and is later extended into 2025. Twain also announces a series of summer concerts across the United States and Canada, including appearances at the Calgary Stampede, Cavendish Beach Music Festival and Ottawa Bluesfest. In 2026, she announces her seventh studio album, Little Miss Twain, with the lead single "Dirty Rosie".

Awards and honours

Twain receives five Grammy Awards, two World Music Awards and 39 BMI Songwriter Awards. She is inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame, the Hollywood Walk of Fame, the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Recording Industry Association of America identifies her as the only female artist with three consecutive Diamond-certified albums. Billboard also recognises her achievements in music videos and touring, including naming her among the greatest female solo music video artists and the highest-grossing female country touring artist by Boxscore.

Family

Twain is the daughter of Sharon Morrison and Clarence Edwards. She has two sisters, Jill and Carrie Ann. After her mother and adoptive father die in a car accident near Wawa, Ontario, in 1987, Twain returns to Timmins to care for her younger siblings, then moves them to Huntsville and supports the family through performances at Deerhurst Resort. She also has a younger brother, Mark, and an adopted nephew, Darryl, through Jerry Twain. She divorces Robert John "Mutt" Lange in 2010 after their separation in 2008.