Shania Twain Biography
Below is Shania Twain's biography and at the bottom you will find Shania Twain facts.
Shania (shu-Nye-uh), an Ojibway name meaning, "I'm on my way" -- an appropriately
beautiful name for an extraordinary talent who is definitely on her way. In fact, Shania has
been on a musical path practically since she could walk. [NOTE: Some folks call her shanaynay, an affectionate twist of her name].
Born in Windsor and raised in the
great northland of Timmins, Ontario, (about 500 miles due north of Toronto) where both her
father (an Ojibway Indian) and her mother were raised, her's was not the typical upbringing one
would expect from living in a rural environment. The second oldest of five children, the talented
little girl's life was not filled with Barbie dolls and fingerpaints.
"I pretty much missed my childhood," she says. "I've always been focused. My career
has always been very consuming. It probably consumes me less now than it did as a child. I
liked to escape my personal life through my music. Music was all I ever did. I spent a lot of time
in solitude with just my guitar, writing and singing away for hours. I would play 'til my fingers
were bruised, and I loved it! But I never enjoyed the pressure of being a performer. My parents
forced me to perform, which in the long run was the best thing because I was naturally quite a
recluse. If not for my parents I'd still be singing in my bedroom and be quite content, mind
you." Although being "forced" is a rather harsh description, nonetheless her folks were, let's
say, "enthusiastic" about their daughter's obvious gifts.
"I used to be dragged out of bed at 1:00 in the morning and they'd bring me to the local
club to play with the band. You see, they couldn't allow me in a liquor premise before 1:00 a.m.
when they stopped serving. I'd get up and sing a few songs with the band and before I knew it, I
was actually doing clubs professionally. From the age of eight, I was doing weekends, the odd
gig here and there. I did everything my parents could get me on. Every T.V. station, every radio
station, every community center, every old age home," she laughs. "They had me doing
everything!"
One would wonder why her parents, as Shania puts it, "were so obsessed" with creating
a musical career for their child. "My mother lived for my career. We were extremely poor when
I was a kid, and my mother was often depressed with five children and no food to feed them.
She knew I was talented and she lived with the hope that my abilities were my chance to do
something special."
Along with pursuing the music, Shania spent many a summer working with her dad as a
foreman for a 13-man reforestation crew in the middle of the Canadian bush. This petite woman
can wield an axe and handle a chainsaw as well as any man twice her size.
Her delicate appearance also belies a tough little survivor. That inner strength was put to
the ultimate test at the tender age of 21 when both of her parents were killed in an automobile
crash. This unfortunate incident propelled the young artist even further into her musical career.
Now, however, it was not as an escape from, but as a headlong plunge right smack-dab into
reality.
"My personal life changed drastically. When my parents died, my brothers and younger
sister were still living at home. My brothers were only 13 and 14 years old and I became
sister/mom. I had responsibilities, so I couldn't just go around getting gigs here and there, or
writing only when I felt like it. I took a job singing at a resort, I bought a house, a family truck
and settled down - I thought, forever."
The position at the Deerhurst resort ended up to be the most educational period, as a
performer, in her career. She did everything from musical comedy theater to Andrew Lloyd
Webber to Gershwin. About three years later, one by one, her siblings got on their feet and
went their own ways.
"When they left, I felt like a 45 year-old woman whose kids had gone away to college. I
was like `WOW!' I have my whole life to live now. I had all this time on my hands. I didn't have
to cook and clean for anybody. Didn't have to pay any bills but mine," she explains, her voice
picking up speed. "Didn't have to go to school meetings. Didn't have to pick them up after work
and take them to teen dances. Drive 'em here. Drive 'em there. It was like `I'm FREE!!' I said
`now what am I gonna do with my new life?' I decided I wanted to go for it!"
When it was time to really "go for it," Shania was packin' the goods. "I put together a
demo of original music and didn't even go to Nashville right away. My manager (longtime
buddy Mary Bailey) arranged for Richard Frank, a Nashville lawyer, to come to a showcase in
Canada. He got the ball rolling, setting up a meeting with producer Norro Wilson. He
introduced me to Buddy Cannon, who was in A&R at Mercury Nashville at the time, and he
handed my tape over to the head of the label. That was it!" But with the extensive experience
Shania had recently received in musical theater and a talent so versatile that she could handle
just about any style of music, why did this Canadian native gravitate towards Nashville and
country music?
"My parents were obsessed with country music," she explains. "I grew up listening to
Waylon, Willie, Dolly, Tammy, all of them, but I also used to listen to the Mamas and the
Papas, the Carpenters, the Supremes, the Jacksons, and such. But, as a child performer it was
always country, so that's how I developed."
The tape and meetings resulted in a record deal and Shania's self titled debut album. Not
only did the l.p. prick up ears in the States, it also enjoyed a great deal of success overseas,
earning Shania CMT Europe's Rising Video Star of the Year award. This brings us to her latest
release, The Woman In Me, which is truly an international project written in Spain, Italy, the
Caribbean, England , Canada and the United States. Once again as has been the case all her
life, this step in Shania's musical career is intertwined with her personal life. Through her art she
met the love of her life, producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange, who is now her husband. Here's
how it happened: "Mutt's a huge country music fan," she says, smiling. "I may be the princess
in his life, but Tammy Wynette is the Queen! The steel guitar is his favorite instrument. He was
a fan of mine through my first album and wanted to meet me. We first talked on the phone
several weeks before we met in person. He got a hold of me through my manager. I had no idea
he was a world famous record producer. I didn't read the back of pop and rock albums, which
was good because I wasn't intimidated by him. Otherwise, I don't think I would have been able
to express myself creatively without any inhibitions. It worked out really well. We became good
friends over the phone, we were even writing songs and exchanging ideas. Creatively we were
very in sync with each other. The first time I actually talked to him face to face was in Nashville
during Mercury's Fan Fair show in '93, and we haven't wanted to be apart from that moment
on."
Ahh L'amour. . .She continues, "We ended up writing half the album, mind you, before we even
became romantically involved. Creatively, romantically, it's a wonderful, wonderful marriage.
My husband Mutt is the producer of my dreams and the love of my life. They are two separate
entities, but at the same time what more could any girl ask for?"
As a songwriter, Shania's muse comes from a very childlike perspective. "Writing's like
coloring," she thoughtfully pauses. "Kids like to color, they don't need to have a reason to color
- they just like it. Why do they use orange instead of pink, or green instead of blue? I don't
know. . .they don't know - they just do. They have no inhibitions. They are totally open to be
creative. That's how I feel about songwriting. It's a chance to just create without inhibitions."
Shania is very proud of the work she and Mutt put into this project, having together written or
co-written every cut on it.
"Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under' is something I've been kicking around for the last
couple of years," she says. "It'll be the first single. I'm proud of this one because the title and the
hook seem to be getting everyone's attention. I'm not a new writer, but I am kinda new on the
scene. It's really cool to be able to come up with a hook that someone like Mutt believes in. He
feels it's a hit song. That excites me! "The chorus to `Home Ain't Where His Heart Is
(Anymore)' is something I had written a couple of years ago, and sang to Mutt over the phone
during our first conversation. That's when he realized I had writing potential he wanted to tap
into. It's the first song we ended up completing together, the first song we demoed, the first one
we recorded in the studio in Nashville, and the first song we mixed and completed. So we
thought it would only be appropriate if it was the first song on the album." Several of the songs
on The Woman In Me blend Shania's country sensibility with Mutt's famous over the top
production."`Any Man of Mine' is also something that I've been working on for quite a while.
Mutt and I finished it together as well. I think it could be the impact song of this album. It is an
excellent combination of the two of us. It's got everything that he's known for as a producer and
a writer, yet it's so me it's not funny. The title cut is another good example of a collaboration of
our two backgrounds. It really is the two of us right down the middle." Another song that holds
a special place in Shania's heart is "God Bless the Child." "That song is a lullaby I wrote after
my parents died. I would go for long walks in the bush by myself with this song swimming
around in my head. I really don't know where the melody came from. When I met Mutt, I sang
it for him and he said `Wow--that's beautiful!' we didn't even change it. There's no chorus, no
verse, just a thought. . .no story, no hook, nothing commercial about it. It's just a true sincere
thought and emotion."
Shania's hope is to be perceived as an all around artist known not only for her singing but
also for her ability to write. "I don't want to be seen as just a pretty face with a pretty voice, that
type of thing. For me, not singing my own material, is just so awkward. I'm in control of my
career now. I enjoy it because I want to do it, not because I have to." Shania has also come to a
place in her life where she has found that delicate balance between her career and her personal
life. "I won't neglect my personal life. I wouldn't be able to write the songs or play the music, or
even be a responsible artist in any way, shape or form if I'm not happy as a person. So my
personal life comes first."
With a clear head and her smart new album The Woman In Me, Shania is well "on her
way" to realizing her hopes and fulfilling her mothers dream for the little girl who grew up in
her own magical musical world. Indeed, what more could a girl ask for.
Shania Twain Facts
Pronounced: shu-NYE-uh
Birth Name: Eileen Regina Edwards
- She adopted the name Shania in 1990.
- "Shania" means "I'm on my way" in Ojibway.
Parents: Clarence and Sharon Edwards
- Shania's biological father left her when she was two.
- Jerry Twain met and married the single Sharon later on in life, thus the Twain name.
- Jerry Twain adopted Shania when she was four.
- Shania's parents sadly died in a car crash in 1987, Shania was only 21.
Date of birth: August 28, 1965
Born in: Windsor, Ontario
Raised in:Timmins, Ontario
Siblings: Jill, Carrie-Ann, Mark, Darryl.
- Shania is the second oldest.
- Shania is Irish and French-Canadian and was raised with the Ojibwa Indian Culture.
Height: 5'4"
Weight: 110
Eyes: Green
Hair: Brown
Shoe size: 6 1/2
Favorite food: Pasta
Favorite dessert: All pastries but especially peach pie.
Favorite colors: Red and green.
Favorite music: Everything.
Favorite movie: Immortal Beloved
Favorite actor: Jim Carrey
Favorite actress:Jessica Lange
Hobbies: Camping, Horseback riding.
Best Characteristic: Resourceful.
Worst Characteristic: Impatient.
Values most: Family and happiness.
Instrument: Guitar.
First Performance: 1st grade show & tell, she sang "Country Roads."
First Recording: 1985 duet with Tim Denis called "Heavy On The Sunshine".
- She also sang back vocals on the Sammy Kershaw song "Haunted Heart".
- Her first album (Shania Twain) only contained 1 of her own songs, "God Aint Gonna Getcha for that".