Shania Twain fans, brace yourselves. The country music star is back.
The superstar recently announced that her fifth studio album, NOW, will be released in September, and she's already performing her new single, "Life's About To Get Good."
“This is like a solo record experience for me. It was therapy," explained the singer at this year's Stagecoach Festival in California. "I wrote this specific song about the good and bad in life. It’s really just a happy, sing-along optimistic song. It’s all about how ‘Life’s About to Get Good,’” she told the 75,000-strong crowd.
Shania has overcome many obstacles since her formative years growing up in Timmins, Ontario. Born Eilleen Regina Edwards, the singer was raised in poverty by her mother (her father left when she was two). She's said she regularly went hungry. As a teenager, she played gigs to help support her family, all the while dreaming of making it big.
In 1987, tragedy struck. Shania was 21 and on the cusp of launching her musical career when her mother and stepfather were killed in a car crash, leaving the young singer to care for her two brothers. “I knew I had to look after my younger brothers,” she said. “I really needed to keep the family together. I just put all my singing ambitions on hold until the rest of the family had grown up.”
Thankfully, Shania’s hard work, determination and perseverance paid off. In 1993, she moved to Nashville and changed her name to “Shania.” The rest, as they say, is history.
Here, a look back at her incredible life and career in photos.
The singer answering questions from the media before performing her first full-scale concert in Sudbury, Ont. in 1998, which would kick off her sold-out world tour.
(Photo: CP / Frank Gunn)In 1999, Shania Twain picked up two Grammys for ‘Best Female Country Vocal Performance’ and ‘Best Country Song.’
(Photo:CP/AP Photo/Reed Saxon)In one of her most memorable performances to date, Shania brought down the house at the 1999 Grammys with a show-stopping rendition of “Man, I Feel Like a Woman.”
(Photo: CP/AP Photo/Kevork Djansezian)Prince Charles and Shania were seen sharing a moment after her performance at The Princes’ Trust in July 1999.
(Photo:CP/AP Photo/Stefan Rousseau)She opted for a more dramatic look at the 2003 AMAs, where Shania stormed the red carpet in a punk-inspired, haute couture ensemble, which she paired with lace-up, thigh-high boots and a crimped faux-hawk hairdo. She later performed a medley of her hits, “Gonna Getcha Good” and “Up!”
(Photo:CP/AP Photo/Reed Saxon)In 2003, Shania Twain took the Super Bowl stage in San Diego, California to sing two songs,“Man I Feel Like a Woman!” and “Up!” before No Doubt performed “I’m Just a Girl” and Sting played “Message in a Bottle.” The Canadian country sensation had just released her album, ‘Up!,’ two months earlier. The album sold 11 million copies worldwide.
(Photo:CP/AP Photo/Dave Martin)Shania and her producer husband, Robert “Mutt” Lange, were wed in 1993 and have a son together, Eja. The pair separated in 2008, after Shania discovered that Mutt had an affair with her best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud
(Photo: Stephen d'Antal / Rex Features)The Timmins, Ont. native showed her love for the Montreal Canadiens by donning a sparkly Habs jersey-inspired outfit while hosting the 2003 Juno Awards.
(Photo:CP Photo/Tom Hanson)But she made sure to give the Toronto Maple Leafs some love, too, changing into a Leafs sweater halfway through her hosting duties.
(Photo:CP Photo/Tom Hanson)At the 2003 Academy of Country Music Awards.
(Photo:AP Photo/Laura Rauch)Shania posed with a gaggle of Royal Canadian Mounted Police while receiving her star on Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2003.
(Photo:CP Photo/Frank Gunn)The singer played catch before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of an MLB game between the Philadelphia Phillies and the Chicago Cubs in 2003.
(Photo:AP Photo/Anne Ryan)Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean presented Shania with the Order of Canada – Canada’s highest civilian honour – in 2005.
(Photo:CP Photo/Jonathan Hayward)Hello, glamour! The singer channeled an old Hollywood screen siren in a gold gown paired with a fur stole at the 2005 CMA Awards.
(Photo:Nicolas Khayat/Abacausa.com)At the 2007 Academy of Country Music Awards in a Grecian-inspired, white column Monique Lhuillier gown.
The country music sensation had the honour of lighting the Olympic Cauldron at Hollinger Park in her hometown of Timmins, Ont. in 2010. The Olympic flame passed through more than 1,000 communities on a 106-day journey before arriving in time for the Vancouver Games on Feb. 12.
(Photo:The CP/Pawel Dwulit)At the 2011 Juno Awards, Shania Twain was overcome with emotion as she was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. “Thank you so much! I really am turning into such a sap,” she said as she wiped away her tears. “This is a beautiful moment for me. I am really so proud of Canada’s talent.”
(Photo:CP Images/Christian Lapid)In 2011, Shania was finally ready to open up about her personal life – on her own terms. The singer released an autobiography called ‘From This Moment On,’ which detailed her difficult childhood, her rise to fame and her ex-husband’s betrayal. She also launched a docu-series called, ‘Why Not? With Shania Twain.’ Here, she is seen on ‘The Marilyn Dennis Show’ in Toronto where she spoke about her book.
(Photo:CP Images/Dominic Chan)The multi-platinum artist finally earned a coveted star on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame in 2011.
(Photo:AP Photo/Reed Saxon)Shania promoted her ‘Still the One’ residency in Las Vegas by greeting fans up and down the strip – on horseback!
(Photo:Rex Features)At 47, the super-fit songstress had no problem slipping into a figure-hugging body suit for her ‘Still the One’ show. Shania switched to a vegan diet in 1993, telling ‘Las Vegas Weekly,’ “I was never a big meat eater, but I’ve got more energy now. I eat a lot of tofu, and I drink soy shakes with fruit every morning. I always have soybeans, black beans, or chickpeas for lunch or dinner.”
(Photo:MediaPunch/Rex Features)At the 2013 ACM awards.
(Photo:Broadimage/Rex Features)In December 2016, the singer received the Icon award at at Billboard’s Women in Music honours in New York.
(Photo:Kristina Bumphrey/Starpix/REX/Shutterstock)In April 2017, Shania Twain impressed thousands of fans at the Stagecoach Festival in California, performing a medley of her greatest hits before debuting her new single “Life’s About to Get Good.”
(Photo:RMV/REX/Shutterstock)On June 14 2017, Shania released the artwork for her fifth studio album NOW. The LP is the singer’s first since 2002’s critically-acclaimed UP!.
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