 Emerging in the mid-'90s, Shania Twain (pronounced shu-NYE-uh)
became the most popular country music artist since Garth Brooks. Skillfully
fusing mainstream, AOR rock production with country-pop, Shania Twain and her
producer/husband Robert John "Mutt" Lange created a commercial juggernaut with
her second album, The Woman in Me. The record became a multi-platinum
phenomenon, peaking at number five on the pop charts and eventually selling over
nine million copies in America alone. Twain might have sold a lot of records,
but like other mega-selling acts before her, she earned few good reviews -- most
critics accused her of diluting country with bland, anthemic hard rock
techniques and of shamelessly selling her records with sexy videos. Fans ignored
such complaints, mainly because her audience was comprised of many listeners
that had grown accustomed to such marketing strategies by constant exposure to
MTV. And Shania Twain, in many ways, was the first country artist to fully
exploit MTV's style. She created a sexy, video-oriented image -- she didn't even
tour during the year when The Woman in Me was on the top of the country charts
-- that appealed not only to the country audience, but also to pop fans. In
turn, she became a country music phenomenon.
Shania Twain was born in Windsor, Ontario, and raised in the
small, rural town of Timmins, Ontario. As a child, she learned to play guitar at
an early age and would spend much of her time singing, writing, and playing.
Early on in her musical development, her parents pushed her on stage, making her
perform frequently around their little town; often, she would be pulled out of
bed around one in the morning to sing at local bars, since as a child she could
only appear in the clubs after they had stopped serving alcohol. In addition to
bars, she sang on local radio and television stations and community events. When
she was 21 years old, both of her parents died in a car crash, forcing her to
take responsibility for her four younger brothers. In order to pay the bills and
keep food on the table, she took a job singing at a resort in Deerhurst. With
the money she earned at the resort, she bought a house and had the family settle
down.
At the resort, she sang show tunes, from George Gershwin to
Andrew Lloyd Webber, as well as a little country. Shania Twain stayed there for
three years, at the end of which all of her siblings had begun lives of their
own. When she was finally independent again, she assembled a demo tape of her
songs, and her manager set up a showcase concert in Canada. Shania Twain caught
the attention of a few insiders with the concert, and within a few months,
Mercury Nashville had signed her to their roster. Her eponymous debut album was
released in 1993, and although it wasn't a major hit, it performed respectably
in the United States, launching two minor hit singles, "What Made You Say That"
and "Dance With the One That Brought You"; in Europe, the album was more
successful and Country Music Television Europe named her Rising Video Star of
the Year.
Shortly after the release of Shania Twain, the singer met and
fell in love with Robert John "Mutt" Lange, a hard rock producer known for his
work with AC/DC, Def Leppard, Foreigner, and the Cars. Lange had been wanting to
move into country music for a while, and after hearing Shania Twain's debut
album, he decided to get in contact with her with the intention of working on an
album. By the end of the year, the pair had married and begun working on her
second record. The two either wrote or co-wrote the material that eventually
formed The Woman in Me.
The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995. Its first
single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?," went to number 11 early in the
year, quickly followed by "Any Man of Mine," which became her first number one
single in the spring. The album's title track went to number 14 in the fall,
while the fourth single, "(If You're Not in It for Love) I'm Outta Here!,"
rocketed to number one toward the end of the year; early in 1996, "No One Needs
to Know" became her third number one hit. By the beginning of 1996, The Woman in
Me had sold over six million copies and broken the record for the most weeks
spent at number one on the country charts. During the course of 1996, it would
rack another three million in sales. Come On Over followed in 1997. She spent
the next two years touring the globe in support of the album; by the end of
1999, Come On Over had sold 36 million copies.
Shania Twain took a sabbatical and returned to her Swiss home
for some down time with her husband. The next summer, she and Lange welcomed
their first child. A son, whom they named Eja, arrived August 21, 2001. During
this time, Shania Twain brainstormed for a fourth album. While balancing a
domestic life and a career, the end result was Up!, which appeared in November
2002. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
|
