Published by Cel Manero from Global One Media Inc.
The music icon opens up to PEOPLE about her upcoming album, Little Miss Twain.
Shania Twain appears completely at ease as she balances barefoot on a library ladder at a private members’ club in downtown Manhattan, carefully holding a tree pose while dressed in a navy ballgown.
The 60-year-old superstar grips the gown’s lace train as she moves to “Golden,” a hit by her recent tourmate Harry Styles. At her request, the song plays twice. The unusual balancing act is a fitting image for an artist whose life has repeatedly demanded resilience.
Twain’s journey to global stardom began far from the spotlight. She grew up in poverty in the rural mining community of Timmins, Ontario, and endured an abusive childhood. As a young girl, she remembers being something of a tomboy and even wearing two bras so she could comfortably join the boys in games of football.
Since landing her first record deal in 1992, Twain has gone on to sell more than 100 million albums worldwide, collect five Grammy Awards and establish herself as the best-selling female country-pop artist in history.
“You just can’t take the woods out of the girl,” Twain says of her roots.
More than 30 years into her career, she says she feels more confident and empowered than ever — a perspective shaped by some profoundly painful experiences.
Twain was just 22 when her mother, Sharon Twain, and stepfather, Jerry Twain, died in a car accident. Their deaths left her responsible for helping care for her three younger siblings and forced her to confront adulthood at a very young age.
She says those circumstances taught her to develop courage early and find ways to keep moving rather than allow herself to fall apart. Twain credits both her education and a process of self-reflection with helping her work through the hardships she experienced.
Her life later brought additional challenges, including the highly publicised 2010 divorce from her first husband and producer, Robert John “Mutt” Lange. She also underwent vocal cord surgery after Lyme disease severely threatened her ability to sing.
Twain says she has repeatedly confronted adversity by finding the courage to move forward, even when fear was present. In her view, fear can become a source of motivation rather than something that holds her back.
Now, after years of major personal and professional upheaval, Twain says she has reached a point where she feels comfortable with who she is and can look back at difficult chapters of her life with greater perspective.
That outlook is reflected in her seventh studio album, Little Miss Twain. The project draws on memories from her childhood and earlier years, turning experiences from her past into material for a deeply personal artistic statement.
Rather than remaining focused on the hardships she endured, Twain says she has already spent much of her life processing those experiences. She is now able to revisit her past with warmth and even a sense of humour.
The genre-spanning album features collaborations with Tanya Tucker, Josh Homme, The War and Treaty and Twain’s 25-year-old son, Eja Lange. Through the record, she explores some of the happier and less familiar memories that helped shape the person she became.
Working with Tucker was particularly meaningful for Twain, who describes the experience as surreal.