Shania Twain’s birth name is Eileen Regina Edwards. Born in Ontario, Canada, the country music icon expressed an interest in music early on. Her mother remarried after a divorce several years after she was born, giving the singer the last name Twain. Although the new relationship was abusive, Shania Twain found solace in music, which her mother encouraged.
Despite the family’s financial struggles, Twain’s mother found ways of supporting music lessons. At 18, Twain found music gigs in Toronto. The gigs didn’t pay much but allowed her to perform in front of crowds. About two years afterward, her parents died in a car accident, leaving her as the sole guardian of her younger siblings.
The country legend continued to write songs and took a gig in Las Vegas as a result, but the added pressure only served to strengthen her resolve. While working in Las Vegas, her demo landed in Nashville, where it caught the attention of the label Mercury Nashville (which was then Polygram Records). After pressure from this record label, Shania Twain changed her name from Eileen to Shania, which meant I’m on my way in Ojibwe — her stepfather’s language.
Twain soon released her first new album, Shania Twain, to modest reception. However, one of the songs from the studio album caught Robert John Lange’s attention, who collaborated with her on her second album, The Woman in Me. The album was a huge success, with 12 million sales and several songs reaching the top spots on the Billboard and country music charts.
Twain released several subsequent albums to great reception amidst personal disruptions, including a divorce from Robert Lange.
Since 2011, the singer has appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show, Trading Paint, and I Still Believe. These days, she’s best known for tracks like “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and Any Man of Mine.” Songs like these led many to dub Shania “The Queen of Country.”
