Shania Twain is a Canadian singer and songwriter known as the “Queen of Country Pop.” She has sold more than 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-selling music artists of all time. Her 1997 album Come On Over remains the best-selling studio album by a female artist in history, and her hits “You’re Still the One,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much” defined pop-country in the late 1990s.
Quick Facts
| Full Name | Eilleen Regina Twain |
| Age | 61 years old |
| Date of Birth | August 28, 1965 |
| Birthplace | Windsor, Ontario, Canada |
| Height | 5 ft 4 in (163 cm) |
| Nationality | Canadian |
| Occupation | Singer, Songwriter |
| Partner | Frédéric Thiébaud (husband, married 2011) |
| Children | One son |
| Net Worth | Approx. $400 million |
Who Is Shania Twain?
Shania Twain is a Canadian singer-songwriter who became the biggest-selling female artist in country music history. Born Eilleen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, she grew up singing in bars in Timmins, Ontario, to help support her family, and went on to lead the 1990s country-pop crossover with a run of albums produced by her then-husband, Robert John “Mutt” Lange. Billboard named her the leader of the 1990s country pop crossover stars, and her blend of country, pop and rock made her a worldwide star.
Twain has won five Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album for The Woman in Me and Best Country Song for “You’re Still the One,” and her album Come On Over sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. She has sold more than 100 million records in total, making her one of the best-selling music artists ever. After tragedy and voice problems interrupted her career, she staged one of music’s great comebacks, returning with a No. 1 album in 2017 and a string of Las Vegas residencies that ran into 2025.
Early Life & Background
Eilleen Regina Edwards was born on August 28, 1965, in Windsor, Ontario, and was raised in the northern Ontario town of Timmins. Her parents, Sharon and Jerry Twain, struggled financially, and Twain began singing in bars at age eight to earn money for the family, performing with a band led by her mother. Her stepfather, Jerry, adopted her and gave her the surname Twain, and Shania later said she took her first name from an Ojibwe word she believed meant “on my way.”
In 1987, when Twain was 22, her parents were killed in a car accident. She put her career on hold and returned to Timmins to raise her younger siblings, taking a job singing at the Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville, Ontario, to support them. In 1991, a demo tape reached Nashville, and she signed with Mercury Nashville Records. Her self-titled debut album was released in 1993, and that same year she married the producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who would produce her breakthrough records.
Career
Twain’s breakthrough came with The Woman in Me (1995), a country-pop album that sold more than 20 million copies and won the Grammy for Best Country Album. The follow-up, Come On Over (1997), was even bigger: it sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling studio album by a female artist in history, the best-selling country album ever, and one of the best-selling albums of all time. Its singles included “You’re Still the One,” “From This Moment On,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” Her third album with Lange, Up! (2002), also sold more than 20 million copies.
At the peak of her career, Twain was one of the most photographed stars in music, known for her music videos and her famously midriff-baring leather outfits. In 2004, after a horseback-riding tour, she began losing her voice, a problem later traced in part to Lyme disease, and she stepped away from recording. Her marriage to Lange ended in 2010, and in January 2011 she married Frédéric Thiébaud, a Swiss businessman whose ex-wife had been Lange’s lover. Twain returned to the stage with a Las Vegas residency, “Shania: Still the One,” in 2012, released her comeback album Now in 2017 — her first in 15 years, and a No. 1 in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia — and followed it with Queen of Me in 2023.
Facts About Shania Twain
- Twain’s album Come On Over (1997) sold more than 40 million copies, making it the best-selling studio album by a female artist in history.
- She has won five Grammy Awards and sold more than 100 million records worldwide.
- Twain began singing in bars at age eight to help support her family in Timmins, Ontario.
- She lost her voice in 2004, in part due to Lyme disease, and spent years in rehabilitation before her 2017 comeback.
- Twain received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011 and was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame the same year.