- 13 minutes ago
Shania Twain looks back on the albums that shaped her extraordinary career, reflecting on the journey from singing in bars as a child in small-town Canada to becoming one of the biggest-selling country artists of all time.
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00:00I feel like I've always been an adult in a child's body.
00:03Singing in the bar is way underage.
00:05There's no budget in this.
00:06The only professional was the photographer
00:08and the makeup artist.
00:09I would not have known how to do lips like that.
00:12My voice has never been the same.
00:13I'm way more gravelly.
00:15I have this rasp, I have more character,
00:17but I can sing loud and proud.
00:21Okay.
00:22So the cover of the Shania Twain album,
00:25which was my very first album.
00:27I wanted authenticity.
00:28I needed to be able to represent myself as an artist
00:33to the fans that I would hopefully eventually have, right?
00:37But I was always putting the intention out there
00:39right from the very beginning before I had one fan
00:42that I needed to be authentic and original.
00:46The only way to be original is to be yourself.
00:49I'm a northerner. I grew up in the north.
00:51Snow, the wolf, one of the most beautiful symbols
00:54of our northern region.
00:55I'm wearing a buckskin coat.
00:59Now, my family was a big hunting family,
01:03and they skinned and dried a lot of buckskin in their lives.
01:07My grandmother made these mukluks that I'm wearing,
01:11and I wore those to school over at least two winters
01:16as my, like, daily footwear.
01:19I wanted everything that represented who I really was as a person
01:23and bring my culture with me into my career.
01:32I didn't know the first thing about, you know, these are just my own jeans.
01:36I mean, there's no budget in this.
01:37We just trekked out into the middle of a field in my hometown
01:41and took these photos, and all of the crew are my friends and family.
01:47The only professional was the photographer and the makeup artist.
01:51I would not have known how to do lips like that very well.
01:55And that's it, and it's a real fire.
01:57I wanted anyone that was introduced to me for the first time
02:00to smell and sense my surroundings.
02:03And it's interesting because my new album, Little Miss Dwayne,
02:06is all about me writing songs that take you to this very place, the beginning.
02:12Dance with the one that brought you and you can't go wrong.
02:17I did have a lot of responsibility growing up.
02:20I feel like I've always been an adult in a child's body,
02:22whether it was my career singing in the bar is way underage.
02:25I mean, I was going in after midnight because legally I could get up and sing
02:32as long as the bar was closed, even if people were still drinking
02:36for another one or two hours because they fill up their table for last call.
02:40So that was my opportunity to get up there and sing.
02:42But I'm singing adult songs.
02:44I'm singing about divorce, and I'm singing songs like
02:46Take This Job and Shove It.
02:48So I grew up really, really quickly even just through the music.
02:52But then in our house, it was a little, it was tough.
02:55We didn't always have money to pay the bills, and I was one of the adults
03:00in the house trying to just make things happen, getting the kids to school,
03:05making meals out of nothing, and just support my mother through
03:09her depression of not being able to feed us a lot of the time
03:12or not being able to keep us warm in the winter.
03:15My music was her lifeline a lot of the time.
03:19She loved all of us.
03:20She was a wonderful mother.
03:22But she couldn't cope with not always being able to care for us
03:26the way she believed that we should be cared for.
03:28So my music was a lifeline.
03:30The fact that maybe potentially I could make it and get us out of there,
03:35you know, that we could maybe become the Beverly Hillbillies
03:38or something like that was a dream that was very much alive in her,
03:42in her thinking.
03:43And it was a hope for her.
03:45It gave her hope.
03:46So my second album, and it's all my own songwriting.
03:49I didn't quite make it to that bold of an acceptance by my record label
03:56in our department.
03:57But they were very open to my artistic visual elements
04:01on the very first album.
04:03And then by this second album, they give me so much free reign.
04:08And my wish was John Derrick as the photographer and art director,
04:14Bo Derrick, co-directing and lighting director.
04:18Norma, Bo's mother, was hair and makeup.
04:21And Bo's sister, Carrie, was lighting assistant.
04:24So this is just my work and the Derricks creating this photo
04:31and all of the images on the inside.
04:34And me just giving them my hair brain ideas of how I, of my vision.
04:40I needed horses as part of this, so in the inside and everywhere
04:44you'll see horses.
04:45And this is where I really learned how lighting really worked
04:50and photography.
04:52John Derrick was hard and difficult to work with.
04:55But Bo's experience with John, of course, all those years
04:59and being married to him, was a really great coach
05:01all the way through it.
05:03And really she just quietly appealed to my senses
05:10and all of my own experiences working with men that had giant egos.
05:16And we ended up with fabulous results.
05:19And the album was my first Diamond album.
05:22Who's been, have your boots been under?
05:26And in his heart did you see, I wonder?
05:29My first original song written album was flying off the shelves.
05:37This is before downloading and all this sort of stuff streaming.
05:40And my label calls me, my record label, Luke Lewis Head,
05:43and he says, give me, throw a number at me.
05:45What do you, how many albums do you think you've sold so far?
05:48And I said, I don't know, how many albums has Reba's biggest album sold?
05:53He said 300,000.
05:56And I said, okay, 300,000.
06:00He said, a million.
06:03How about a million?
06:06I said, whoa, okay, well, that's fabulous news.
06:11It carried on to sell over 10 million, which is Diamond.
06:1339 of mine, better walk the line.
06:19I didn't have my first top 10 record until I was 30.
06:23I dreamt of riding horses, and that would have been my choice
06:26if I could have afforded them back then.
06:27And when I'm 30 and have my first top 10, as a gift, I buy myself my first horse.
06:34The Come On Over album, I'm not yet a touring artist,
06:37because even though the second album was Diamond, over Diamond,
06:42and I had several hits off it, there weren't enough giant hits
06:47to do a whole hour and a half, two hour live show.
06:49So I said, if I go out on tour now, I'm going to have to do covers.
06:56I've been doing covers ever since I was eight years old.
06:58I'm not doing it.
07:00I'm going to miss out on the cash, but I'm going to write my next record.
07:05It's going to have more hits, and it's going to get me to the point
07:08where I will go on tour and sing all my own hits.
07:12That was the Come On Over album.
07:14And that had so many singles that I could have done three hours of concert.
07:19It also way surpassed Diamond, and was a whirlwind experience.
07:26I don't have a lot of memories to share with you, if I'm being honest,
07:29because I was working like a dog, and I was not able to absorb
07:34a lot of what I was accomplishing during this period.
07:37But that won't keep me warm in the middle of the night
07:43That don't impress me much
07:46You know, it was happening way too fast for me to even be proud of it yet.
07:50I realized, now looking back, that I wouldn't, I had no idea at the time
07:56that it would ever accomplish what it did.
08:00There's no way I would have known.
08:01My goal was to just get a few more singles so that I could tour without doing covers.
08:08That was my goal, right?
08:09It wasn't to have basically the whole album's worth of songs be singles.
08:14So I had way surpassed all my expectations.
08:16The best thing about being a woman
08:20Is the prerogative to have a little money
08:24When I was younger, as my body started to develop, I started young.
08:28When I was eight, I remember my breasts started to get really tender and sore.
08:32And I was always playing football, and I remember catching the football
08:37And just dropping it and going, oh!
08:43And just being devastated that, how am I going to carry on playing football with the guys
08:49If I can't catch the ball?
08:52And as my breasts started developing, what I did was I started wearing, you know, really tight bands
09:00And as I got big enough, double-broad it.
09:04So I could, you know, run and not bounce and also not be a distraction
09:10Because you're playing with all guys and all they want to do is watch your boobs bouncing
09:12As you're running down the field.
09:14So it's like, okay, you know, let me just be one of the football players on the team
09:19And I'm going to just eliminate this distraction
09:22So I spent all of this developing time developing into a woman, like a physical woman
09:27But wishing I was Sting in my boyish body, my boyish figure
09:32And I really resented developing these curves
09:35And I pushed back on it
09:38And by the time I made, I wrote the song, Man, I Feel Like A Woman
09:41Which is why I wrote that song and that lyric
09:44Because I'm like, okay, it's time to celebrate being a woman
09:48Man, I feel like a woman
09:53It was an exclamation and it was really a point I was making
09:56To myself
09:57And I came out from behind that insecurity
10:02Of saying, listen, if you want to look at me with that stare
10:05That's up to you
10:08But I'm not going to hide, you know, for the sake of that
10:15Writing the Up album, I was now already crossed over into pop
10:19I was now a legitimate country crossover global recording artist
10:28That took so much pressure off
10:30I'm like, listen, there's nobody else in country music that's got a double diamond album
10:36So it's not that I didn't have anything else to prove
10:39But I was already surpassing what I think anyone else had ever done in country music
10:45I'm gonna get you, it's a matter of fighting
10:49I'm gonna get you, don't you worry about that
10:52So I'm thinking, okay, now let's get a little more creative
10:57Let's have more fun with the fiddles
10:58More fun with the arrangements
11:01The productions were definitely more experimental
11:05And Up was even more playful
11:09I was just having more fun
11:11And whatever singles or hits came of it
11:16Even if it would have been one
11:17I would have felt like, okay, we're just, we're keeping this going
11:20We're keeping momentum
11:21It didn't need to be diamond, which is what it being
11:27Okay, so now, this is after so many issues
11:32This is after Lyme's disease
11:33This is after, you know, a sad divorce
11:36And I am writing to mend my soul
11:40This is the album that I put on when I am alone
11:44I put the vinyl on, repeat
11:46And I am in just such joy listening back
11:50And feeling healed every time I listen to it
11:59The first time I met Jon Bon Jovi
12:01We were on an international flight going to Europe somewhere
12:04And we just bumped into each other in the aisle
12:08And he said, Shnaya, it's really cool to meet you
12:14And he said, you know, I've heard that you have the reputation
12:17Of being the hardest working artist in the industry
12:20And he said, I have the same reputation
12:23Nice to meet you
12:24So I think he felt already early on that we had something in common
12:28And then he was going through laryngeal nerve problems
12:31And I had already been through that due to Lyme's disease
12:35And he just called me up and said, share everything you know
12:40About how you got back singing live after nerve atrophy in the voice
12:47And I shared my surgeon's information with him
12:51And I shared my experience with him
12:53And I encouraged him to weigh up all the scenarios
12:59I told him that it worked for me
13:01And that I was honest, I was transparent
13:04I think he really appreciated that
13:05I was able to take it all on board
13:07My voice has never been the same
13:08I'm way more gravelly
13:10I have this rasp, I have more character
13:12I do sing in different placements
13:17But I can sing
13:20And I told him the surgery was scary
13:22It's an open throat surgery
13:25And you have to be awake for the surgery
13:27I said, I just have to be honest with you
13:29Because if you're going into this
13:31You know, you might as well
13:32You're going to hear it from the surgeon anyway
13:34But you might as well hear it from somebody who's been through it
13:37I'm not sure if any other singers have been through this surgery
13:41Other than the two of us
13:42Is the voice ever going to ever recover properly?
13:45You don't know, you're jumping into it
13:48You have to be brave
13:49And you have to make a choice
13:51I either never sing again
13:52I'll never be able to cope with any live
13:57With this hour and a half, two hours of singing live
14:00Or I get the operation and I just take the chance
14:03What do I have to lose?
14:04And I decided to go for it
14:05And like I said, it's different
14:07I embrace it
14:08I'm grateful that I can sing
14:10I can hold a note
14:11And I can do it loud
14:12And I can be loud and proud
14:15Queen of Me is me really coming into my own
14:18It is, I am in charge again
14:21Of my, my confidence is rebuilt
14:25I am way into menopause
14:28And I'm like, bring it on
14:31I'm just feeling comfortable in my own skin again
14:34I've, you know, I'm living my dreams
14:37I'm riding a horse bareback
14:40I'm just bold again
14:42I'm re-encouraged
14:44And giddy up
14:46And the song Queen of Me is just
14:48This is my personal self-empowerment album
14:51Queen of Me
14:58Now I'm like, I look in the mirror and I go
15:01I go from being this young, stunning figure
15:04Beautiful skin, everything's in the right place
15:07Time in my life
15:09Where I couldn't look in the mirror
15:10Because all I could see were imperfections
15:12To becoming an older woman
15:14And now looking in the mirror
15:16No problem
15:17I'm like, I just have to get over this
15:19Because every day that goes by
15:21I'm getting older
15:22And, you know, the, the dips and bulges
15:25And the, and the, the sags
15:27Are just getting more and more prominent
15:32So enjoy every day for what it is
15:36Freeze it, enjoy it
15:37I'm not trying to be 30
15:39I'm not trying to be 25
15:41And I won't be ever again
15:42And that's my own fault
15:44For not looking in the mirror
15:45When I was younger
15:45And shame on me
15:46You know, I'm like, ah
15:47What were you thinking?
15:48So I encourage everybody
15:50Just enjoy yourself the way you are right now
15:51And take it in
15:52And love it
15:55Little Miss Twain
15:56This is my journey
15:57From the eight year old
15:59Little Miss Twain
16:01Literally introduced as Little Miss Twain
16:03As a child
16:04And that musical and personal journey
16:07That gaps the eight year old
16:09To the 60 year old
16:11My son's on a few songs in different capacities
16:19He's on a couple as a writer
16:21He's on one as a producer
16:23He does vocals on Little Miss Twain
16:26He's very talented
16:27He's in music
16:28And that's his passion
16:29Even though I never encouraged him to be in music
16:32I never wanted to be the
16:35I didn't want to be like my mother
16:36If I'm being honest
16:38Even though I know that it paid off
16:40I created a lot of
16:43You know, I created my stage fright for example
16:45And so for my son
16:46I just wanted him to discover it on his own
16:48If he's talented
16:50And he is drawn to it
16:54And obsessed with it organically
16:58Then let it be so
17:00And he was
17:02So I support him
17:04And I'm there
17:05And we share a lot of things
17:06And so we have that in common
17:09Fantastic
17:10So we talk about music a lot
17:13I'm terrible with music technology
17:16This is where he loses me
17:18And it's like Greek to me
17:20But when it comes to like actual creativity
17:23We gel wonderfully
17:24And we just love it
17:25And we sound alike
17:26So it's really fun to sing together and to blend
17:30So we have a lot more exploring to do there
17:32I just love him
17:32I would have had
17:33You know what?
17:34If I could have my son three times over
17:36I would do it in a heartbeat
17:37The only thing I'm missing is more of him
17:39You know, I wish I could have had more children just like him
17:43But then everybody says they're never the same
17:45Every child is so different
17:47So, you know, I'm just happy with my one boy
17:51He's wonderful
17:53Push, start, Chevy
17:55It's old and it's heavy
17:58I wrote a song called Little Miss Twain
18:01Which is the title of the album
18:02And that's more about my mother's dreams
18:06And vision of me becoming a child star
18:10Like Tanya Tucker
18:11Tanya Tucker was the only child star at the time
18:14In country music
18:15So that was my mother's reference
18:17For who she believed I could be
18:19I never did become a child star
18:22I wouldn't be successful until much, much later, long
18:25After my mother was already gone
18:28So I was thinking about her when I wrote that song
18:32As I'm looking back on these other songs
18:34That are all about where I come from
18:36And, you know, the feelings and experiences
18:38And emotions of my youth
18:42And how she was my manager, my agent, my coach
18:46She was the one that would drive me to all of these local bars
18:50To get educated as a performer
18:53According to my mother
18:56I'm the next Tanya Tucker
18:59I'm gonna be a star
19:02Me being her little singer was a glimpse of hope
19:09That not only would I make it
19:12But that maybe I would break this cycle for us
19:15And we would all get out of there
19:17Meaning there
19:18Meaning somewhere difficult
19:21And sometimes violent
19:24And ugly
19:25And vulnerable
19:28And she just thought
19:29Okay, well, you know
19:30The likelihood of us winning a lottery
19:32Is, you know, pretty low
19:36But my child is talented and she believed in it
19:39She wasn't just making that up in her mind
19:41She really believed it
19:42And I held onto that as
19:47We're all gonna get
19:48We're all gonna make it
19:49If I made it
19:49We were all gonna make it
19:51Even though there were so many moments
19:53I did not want to go to those smoky bars
19:55As a child
19:56Or do a lot of that stuff in the spotlight
19:58I was uncomfortable
20:00And I had a lot of stage fright
20:02But I did it for her
20:03I did it for her
20:04And I mean, I'm glad I did
20:05I pushed through
20:07Bye-bye
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