Shania Twain: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

Article Images

Line 1:

{{Infobox musical artist

~~#REDIRECT [[retard]]~~

|Name = Shania Twain

|Img = Shania Twain.jpg

|Img_capt =#REDIRECT [[retard]]

|Background = solo_singer

|Birth_name = Eilleen Regina Edwards

|Alias = Eilleen Twain (1967-1992) '''Shania Twain''' (1993-present)

|Born = {{birth date and age|1965|8|28}} [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]

|Origin = [[Timmins, Ontario|Timmins]], [[Ontario]], [[Canada]]

|Label = [[Universal Music Group]], [[Polydor Records|Polydor]] (1992–1996), [[Mercury Records|Mercury]] (1997–)

|URL = [http://www.shaniatwain.com/ ShaniaTwain.com]

}}

'''Shania Twain''', '''[[Order of Canada|OC]]''' (born '''Eilleen Regina Edwards''', [[August 28]], [[1965]], [[Windsor, Ontario|Windsor]], [[Ontario]]) is a [[Canadian]] [[singer]] and [[songwriter]] in the [[country music|country]] and [[popular music|pop music]] genres. Her third album ''[[Come on Over (Shania Twain album)|Come on Over]]'' is the [[List of best-selling albums worldwide|biggest-selling album]] of all time by a female artist, and the best-selling album in the history of country music.<ref name = bio>{{cite web

| last = Twain

| first = Shania

| title = Biography

| publisher = Shania: The Official Site

| url = http://www.shaniatwain.com/about-biography.asp

| accessdate = 2007-08-22}} </ref> She is the only female artist to have three albums [[RIAA certification|certified Diamond]] by the [[Recording Industry Association of America]], and has received five [[Grammy]] awards and nearly forty [[Broadcast Music Incorporated|BMI]] Songwriter awards. She has sold over 73 million albums worldwide.{{Fact|date=August 2007}}

==Early years==

Twain is the daughter of Sharon and Clarence Edwards, who divorced when she was two. Her mother then moved Eilleen and her sister Jill to Timmins, Ontario where her mother met and married Jerry Twain, a native [[Ojibwa Indian]]. He then adopted Eilleen, and her name was changed to '''Eilleen Twain'''.

One of five children, Eilleen Twain had a hard childhood in [[Timmins, Ontario]]. Her parents earned little, and there was often a shortage of food and money in the household. In the remote, rugged community she learned to hunt and to chop wood. {{Fact|date=July 2007}} Twain began to earn money by singing in local clubs and bars from a very young age to support her family. At one point, while Jerry was at work, her mother drove the family 425 miles to a [[Toronto]] homeless shelter for assistance (source: Shania's interview in [[Readers Digest]]). {{Fact|date=July 2007}}

==Career as "Eilleen"==

At the age of 13, Eilleen Twain was invited to perform on [[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]] television's ''[[Tommy Hunter]] Show''. While attending [[Timmins High and Vocational School]] in [[Timmins, Ontario]], she was the vocalist for a local band called "Longshot" which covered [[Top 40]] music.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}

In 1984, she sang a duet performance on an album by Canadian artist (and present-day [[CKTB (AM)|CKTB]] radio personality) [[Tim Denis]].<ref>http://www.610cktb.com/shows/510269</ref>

When her mother and adoptive father died in a [[car accident]] on [[November 1]], [[1987]], the 22-year-old Twain put her musical career on hold and took care of her family.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} She and her half-brothers Mark and Darryl, and sister Carrie-Ann moved to [[Huntsville, Ontario]], where she supported them by performing at the nearby [[Deerhurst Resort]].{{Fact|date=July 2007}}

==After "Eilleen" becomes "Shania"==

===1993: ''Shania Twain''===

In 1991, she was invited to record a demo tape in Huntsville, Ontario.{{Fact|date=July 2007}} That led to her first recording contract with entertainment lawyer Richard Frank, whereupon she changed her name to Shania [Shu-nye-uh] an [[Ojibwa]] word which means "On my way".

Twain co-wrote only one of the songs ("[[God Ain't Gonna Getcha for That]]") on her self-titled debut album. The album's first two singles, "[[What Made You Say That]]" and "[[Dance with the One That Brought You]]" peaked at #55 on the [[Billboard Magazine|Billboard Country Charts]]. By the end of 1993 the album had sold less than 250,000 copies.

That same year, Twain sang harmony vocals on [[Sammy Kershaw]]'s ''Haunted Heart'' album.

===1995—1996: ''The Woman in Me''===

[[Image:Shania Twain - The Woman in Me.jpg|thumb]]

When [[rock music|rock]] [[record producer|producer]], [[Robert Lange|Robert John "Mutt" Lange]], heard Twain's original songs and singing, he offered to produce her and to write songs with her. After many telephone conversations, they met in person at [[CMA Music Festival|Nashville's Fan Fair]] in June 1993.{{Fact|date=July 2007}}

Lange and Twain started working on a second album, and in [[1995]] ''[[The Woman in Me (Shania Twain album)|The Woman in Me]]'' produced her first #1 single, "[[Any Man of Mine]]". The album topped the country charts for months and [[crossover|crossed over]] to mainstream charts, peaking at No. 5. [[As of 2007]] it has sold over 12 million copies. ''The Woman in Me'' went on to win the [[Grammy Award for Best Country Album]] as well as the [[Academy of Country Music]] award for Album of the Year; the latter group also awarded Twain as Best New Female Vocalist.

===1997—2000: ''Come on Over''===

[[Image:Shania Twain - Come on Over.jpg|thumb]]

In [[1997]], Twain released her follow-up album, ''[[Come on Over (Shania Twain album)|Come on Over]]''. This was the album that established Twain as a successful crossover artist. Slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the multi-chart hit single "[[You're Still the One]]", sales skyrocketed. Songs like "[[Don't Be Stupid (You Know I Love You)|Don't Be Stupid]]", "[[Honey, I'm Home]]", "[[Man! I Feel like a Woman!]]", "[[That Don't Impress Me Much]]" and "[[From This Moment On (Shania Twain song)|From This Moment On]]" joined the 12 songs that eventually saw release as singles.

Over the next two years, the album stayed on the charts. When the dust finally settled, ''Come on Over'' had sold 20 million copies in the United States and 34 million worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album of all time by a female artist, and the biggest-selling country album of all time.<ref name = bio/>

Songs from the album won four Grammy Awards over the next two years, including [[Grammy Award for Best Country Song|Best Country Song]] for Twain and Lange for "You're Still the One" and "[[Come on Over (song)|Come on Over]]" and [[Grammy Award for Best Female Country Vocal Performance|Best Female Country Performance]] for "You're Still the One" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!".

Despite the album's sale record it wasn't able to top the Billboard 200, reaching a peak of #2. It did however top the charts for 11 weeks in the UK. Additionally, the album set the record for the longest ever stay in the Top 20 of The Billboard 200, remaining in the Top 20 for 99 weeks.

Twain's mainstream pop acceptance was further helped by her appearance in the [[1998]] first edition of the ''[[VH1 Divas]]'' concert, where she sang alongside [[Mariah Carey]], [[Celine Dion|Céline Dion]], [[Gloria Estefan]] and [[Aretha Franklin]] and by [[VH1]]'s [[1999]] heavily-aired ''[[Behind the Music]]'' treatment of her, which concentrated on the tragic aspects of her early life as well as her physical attractiveness and Nashville's early resistance to her bared-midriff [[music video]]s.

In [[1998]], Twain launched her first major concert tour, aided by her manager [[Jon Landau]], a veteran of many large-scale tours with [[Bruce Springsteen]]. The [[Come on Over Tour]] shows were enthusiastically received by audiences around the globe and answered critics{{Who|date=July 2007}} who speculated that she could not perform live.

===2002—2004: ''Up!''===

[[Image:Shania Twain - Up!.jpg|thumb]]

After a two year break, Twain went back into the studio, along with a management change (Twain dropped Landau and went with QPrime), and recorded her latest CD. ''[[Up! (album)|Up!]]'' was released on November 19, 2002. About a year later, she staged the [[Up! Tour]] to promote it.

''Up!'' was released as a double album, with three different "remix" discs - pop (a red CD), country (a green CD) and Indian/Asian (a blue CD). For North American markets, the pop disc was paired with the country disc and in international markets, the pop disc was paired with the Indian/Latin disc. The Indian/Latin disc was recorded in [[Mumbai]], [[India]]. ''Up!'' was given 4 out of 5 stars by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine, and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It charted at the top for five weeks.

The first single from the album "[[I'm Gonna Getcha Good!]]", became a modest country hit that did not do much on the pop charts, apart from the UK where it peaked at #4 in the UK singles chart. The follow-up single "[[Up! (song)|Up!]]" reached the top 15 in the country charts but failed to reach the pop top 40.

The third single from the album would be the most successful. The romantic ballad "[[Forever and for Always]]" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at number four on the country chart and number one on the Adult Contemporary chart, spending six weeks there. "[[She's Not Just a Pretty Face]]" was a country top-ten hit, while the last North American single, "[[It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing]]", made the top 20 on both Country and AC.

To date{{Update after|2008|1|1}}, ''Up!'' has sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S. (Certified by the RIAA as 11 times platinum due to the organization's rules regarding double albums, which are counted as 2 units for certifications) and over 17 million copies worldwide.

In 2003, Twain participated in the [[Dolly Parton]] tribute album, ''[[Just Because I'm a Woman]]'', covering Parton's classic "[[Coat of Many Colors]]".

During the [[Super Bowl XXXVII#Halftime show|Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show]] Twain performed two songs, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "Up!".

===2004—present: ''Greatest Hits''===

In [[2004]], she released the ''[[Greatest Hits (Shania Twain album)|Greatest Hits]]'' album, with three new tracks. To date,{{Update after|2008|1|1}} it has sold over 3.5 million copies in the U.S., and over 7.5 million worldwide. The first single, the multi-format duet "[[Party for Two]]", made the country top ten with [[Billy Currington]], while the pop version with [[Sugar Ray]] lead singer [[Mark McGrath]] made top ten in the United Kingdom and Germany. The follow-up singles, "[[Don't!]]" and "[[I Ain't No Quitter]]" didn't fare as well, the former made top twenty AC, while the latter didn't gain enough airplay to even crack the country top 40.

In [[August 2005]], when Twain hit 40, she released the single "[[Shoes (song)|Shoes]]" from the ''[[Desperate Housewives]]'' soundtrack.

At the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 16, 2007, Twain said that she was currently writing songs for a new album, and that she is doing a "lot of soul searching" and "indulging in the writing". When asked with new music will come out she said "next year".<ref>[http://www.gactv.com/gac/video/ GAC Video]</ref>

Shania Twain will be featured on a duet with Canadian country star [[Anne Murray]] on her upcoming duets album.<ref>[http://www.hot103live.com/node/564957 Anne Murray Releases Special Duets Album Entitled "Anne Murray Duets: Legends & Friends"]</ref>

==Discography==

==Personal life==

Twain's embrace of her adoptive father's Ojibwa heritage has not been without controversy among members of the Canadian [[First Nations]], with some claiming{{Who|date=July 2007}} that a non-Ojibwa adopted by an Ojibwa parent cannot be considered a true Ojibwa. Shania's response to such criticism is: "I don't know how much Indian blood I actually have in me, but as the adopted daughter of my father Jerry, I became registered as a 50% North American Indian ... That is my heart and my soul, and I'm very proud of it."<ref>http://shaniatwainnews.20m.com/favorite_links.html</ref>

Shania married music producer [[Robert Lange|Robert John "Mutt" Lange]] on [[December 28]], [[1993]]. The couple have a son, Eja D'Angelo (pronounced "Asia"), born in August 12, 2001.<ref>http://www.canadianliving.com/CanadianLiving/client/en/Family/DetailNews.asp?idNews=238163&pg=5&</ref> Twain and her family currently reside in [[Switzerland]] and [[New Zealand]].

Twain's commercial ventures outside of the music industry include a series of cosmetics ads in 1999 based on "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" for [[Revlon]]. In 2005, Twain partnered with [[Coty, Inc.|COTY]] for the creation of her fragrance [http://www.shaniabystetson.com Shania by Stetson].

In November 2005, Twain appeared on an episode of the reality show ''[[The Apprentice]]''.

In September 2007, Twain released a second fragrance from COTY called, "[http://www.shaniastarlight.com Shania Starlight by Stetson]".<ref>[http://shaniatwain.com/news-item.asp?item=newsItem-070522.asp Official Starlight press release]</ref>

==Awards and honors==

In addition to her various awards for her singles and albums, Twain has received a number of personal honors:

*She was named the 1999 Entertainer of the Year by both the [[Academy of Country Music]] and the [[Country Music Association]]; Twain was the first non-US citizen to win the CMA award.

*In [[2003]], Twain was inducted into [[Canada's Walk of Fame]].<ref>[http://www.canadaswalkoffame.com/inductees/03_shania_twain.xml.htm Shania Twain in Canada's Walk of Fame]</ref>

*The city of Timmins renamed a street for her, gave her the key to the city, and built the '''[[Shania Twain Centre]]''' in her honour.<ref>http://www.shaniatwaincenter.com</ref>

*On [[November 18]], [[2005]], Twain was invested as an Officer in the [[Order of Canada]].<ref>http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20051118/shania_twain_051118/20051118?hub=Canada CTV</ref>

== References ==

==External links==

* [http://www.shaniatwain.com/ Official website]

* [http://qprime.com/st.html Shania Twain] QPrime Management

* [http://www.umgnashville.com/artist.aspx?ob=ros&src=lb&aid=21 Shania Twain] from [[Universal Music Group Nashville]]

[[Category:Ontario musicians|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Canadian country singers|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Canadian female singers|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Canadian pop singers|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Canadian singer-songwriters|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:1965 births|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Living people|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:People from Windsor, Ontario|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:People from Timmins, Ontario|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Grammy Award winners|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Canada's Walk of Fame]]

[[Category:Juno Award winners|Twain, Shania]]

[[Category:Officers of the Order of Canada|Twain, Shania]]

[[cs:Shania Twain]]

[[da:Shania Twain]]

[[de:Shania Twain]]

[[et:Shania Twain]]

[[es:Shania Twain]]

[[fr:Shania Twain]]

[[io:Shania Twain]]

[[id:Shania Twain]]

[[it:Shania Twain]]

[[he:שאניה טוויין]]

[[nl:Shania Twain]]

[[ja:シャナイア・トゥエイン]]

[[no:Shania Twain]]

[[oc:Shania Twain]]

[[pl:Shania Twain]]

[[pt:Shania Twain]]

[[ru:Шанайя Твейн]]

[[simple:Shania Twain]]

[[sk:Shania Twain]]

[[fi:Shania Twain]]

[[sv:Shania Twain]]

[[th:ชาเนีย ทเวน]]

[[tr:Shania Twain]]

[[zh:仙妮亞唐恩]]