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Shania Twain on abuse, betrayal and finding her voice: ‘I wanted a break – but not for 15 years’

By Simon Hattenstone | The Guardian - UK | April 22, 2018

She recorded the bestselling album ever made by a woman, but later disappeared from the limelight. As she begins her first album tour since 2002, she talks about the violent childhood and devastating divorce that make her pop’s great survivor.

Shania Twain was at the peak of her powers when she lost her voice. We are not talking a couple of cancelled concerts or a few weeks on the throat lozenges. Twain did not make a record for 15 years.

“I never thought I’d sing again,” she says quietly. It is only six weeks since she had laryngoplasty, an operation to reconstruct the vocal box. A two-inch horizontal scar is stripped across her neck.

Actually, she says, she was lucky. Her vocal cord paralysis was a result of being bitten by a tick and contracting Lyme disease. “Lyme disease can be so much more devastating. It can go to your brain.”

It is hard to conceive just how huge the country-pop star was when disaster struck. She was one of the first “crossover” stars, combining country music with pop and rock. Without Shania Twain, there might well have been no Taylor Swift. She made three monster-selling albums with the help of her husband and music partner, producer and writer Robert “Mutt” Lange. Come on Over, which has sold 40m copies, is the bestselling album by a female artist and the ninth-top seller of all time in the US.

Lange, who had made his name workingwith bands including AC/DC and Def Leppard, helped reinvent Twain. She lay down her acoustic guitar, put on heels, lippy and thigh-length boots and morphed from conventional country singer to rock goddess. Twain was sexy, empowering and funny. This was a woman who knew what she wanted – men, action, dancing, control. As she sang on Man! I Feel Like a Woman!, the best thing about being a woman was the prerogative to have a little fun. Her finger-wagging, top-hat-wearing vamp would not take any nonsense from the cloned pretty boys playing guitar on the song’s video.

In the video for That Don’t Impress Me Much, she is stranded in the Mojave desert, dressed from head to toe in leopard-print, rejecting rides from any number of narcissistic hotties (“Oh-oo-oh, you think you’re special/ Oh-oo-oh, you think you’re something else/ OK, so you’re Brad Pitt/ That don’t impress me much”).

Twain was all things to all people – country star, pop star, rocker, sentimentalist (You’re Still the One is possibly her best-known song). She was fancied by the straight boys, admired by the straight girls, adored by gay men as a camp icon and loved by lesbians who read what they wanted into Man! I Feel Like a Woman!.

Then came what Twain calls “the madness”, which was by no means restricted to the Lyme disease and voice loss. Twain and Lange had a son, Eja (pronounced Asia), in 2001, and she planned herself some family time. “I did want a break. But, of course, I would have never stayed away 15 years.” She smiles. “I was too embarrassed to tell anybody that I couldn’t sing. For a long time, I didn’t even know why I couldn’t sing.”

For years, we heard nothing. Then, in 2008, Twain announced that she and Lange were separating. Their eventual divorce was not only the end of a marriage, it was also the end of one of the most successful and lucrative relationships in music. She is worth an estimated $350m (£250m).

It emerged that Lange was having an affair with their PA, Twain’s close friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud, who lived half a mile away in the same Swiss town, Corseaux, overlooking Lake Geneva. But even that was not the headline news. Twain announced that she had got together with Thiébaud’s husband, Frédéric. Suddenly, one of pop’s biggest stars was better known for her marriage-go-round than her music. For a while, Twain retreated back into silence. She still could not sing. There looked to be no chance of her resurrecting her career.

Then, in June 2011, Twain announced a two-year residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. She had not performed live since July 2004. After this lucrative run – which began in December 2012 and brought in $43m – she went into the studio and recorded Now, an album of self-penned songs, which was released last year. They might not have the hooks of her best work with Lange, but they provide a fascinating insight into her life. The lyrics are as personal as they get – from the shock of being deserted to the anger she feels towards her former friend.

You do not hold back, I say. She laughs and suggests I do not know the half of it. In fact, there were songs she wrote that were so vitriolic they could not go on the album. “If I’m really angry, I’ll say ‘f*ck’ a lot. And, if I’m writing, that word will be in every line. There was one song I wrote about my cheating friend and there was a lot of f*cks in there. I hated her, so that’s the best word to use when you hate somebody.”

In the flesh, there is something so wholesome and mumsy about Twain that it comes as a shock when she swears. She is small and strikingly pretty (in 2009, scientists at the University of Toronto declared that she had the perfect face). Today, she is an unlikely mix of dress-down casual and showbiz glam – black tracksuit bottoms, a black-and-white striped sweatshirt, trainers, false eyelashes with which you could sweep the floor and a huge diamond knuckle-duster on her wedding finger.

We meet in a Los Angeles hotel. The room is empty, but for three Brobdignagian bouquets of white roses. She tells me how much she loves roses, then returns to the subject uppermost in her mind. “‘c*nt’ is good, too. My friend said: ‘Say: “She’s a f*cking c*nt”’. That felt good to say. Those words were cathartic.” She says it almost beatifically, as if reciting the rosary.

Did she want to be a star? 'No, I wanted to escape.' From what? 'Everything'

Twain went through a terrible low after the breakup. She had always been a private person, but in 2011 she wrote a memoir, From This Moment On, in which she admitted that there had been times when she wanted to die. It was part confessional, part warning, part self-help manual for people going through similar crises. “That’s right,” she says enthusiastically. “Beware! Or, if it has happened to you, you’re not alone. Why do you have AA meetings? So people can get to the point where they can even get up there and say: ‘This is what happened to me and this is where it’s brought me in my life.’ And they start feeling lighter and better.”

She says two things saved her. First, there was Eja. She could not afford to go under, because he needed her. Second, she revisited her past; it helped to put everything in context.

To say Twain had a traumatic childhood is an understatement. She grew up in Ontario, Canada, and never knew her biological father. Her mother, Sharon, had depression; her stepfather, Jerry, was an Ojibwa Native American, much discriminated against, alcoholic, violent and mentally ill. “A third of my relatives were suicide deaths at young ages – that’s not an exaggeration. A number of them died prematurely just from neglect and alcohol abuse.”

She was christened Eilleen Regina Edwards, which became Twain when her mother married Jerry. Sharon brought up three daughters from her first marriage and a son she had with Jerry, as well as Jerry’s nephew, after his sister died. There was little work around, no money and a lot of violence. “I was worried about my father killing my mother.” She starts again. “I thought they’d kill each other. My mom was quite violent, too. Many nights I went to bed thinking: ‘Don’t go to sleep, don’t go to sleep, wait till they are sleeping.’ And I would wake up and make sure everybody was breathing.”

In her memoir, she describes an occasion when Jerry beat Sharon unconscious, then repeatedly plunged her head in the toilet. Twain grabbed a chair and smashed it across his back. He punched her in the jaw; she punched him back. Twain was 11 at the time.

Her father often abused her. “Physically and psychologically,” she says. She stutters to a stop. Did he sexually abuse her? “Oh yes, sexually,” she mutters. “Uh huh, uh huh. I’m not going to go into details about it. I don’t mind saying it, because I do think it’s important that people understand you can survive these things.” She did not mention the sexual abuse in her book.

How old were you when he started abusing you? “Around the age of 10. I feel the sexual abuse goes hand in hand with the physical and psychological abuse when it’s somebody you know. I learned to block it out. Abusers need to manipulate you, whether it’s before or after, and what I said to myself is: ‘OK, there’s something wrong with this person and that person is not well.’” She pauses. “I did feel sorry for myself a lot as a kid. It was either go to Children’s Aid and get saved now or ... I weighed it up and thought: ‘If I go to Children’s Aid, we’ll all get separated,’ and I just couldn’t bear that, so we all stayed together for better or for worse.” Staying together is a recurring theme for Twain.

She started writing songs as a young girl. Did she want to be a star? “No, I wanted to escape.” From what? “Everything. Violent home. Tensions. Nothing to eat. When you’re hungy you can’t do anything about it but distract yourself from the hunger. And it really works. It’s therapeutic. A lot of kids play with dolls and I played with words and sounds.”

By the age of eight, she was singing in bars to pay the family bills. After graduating from school in 1983, she went to Nashville to sing country. She was on the verge of a breakthrough in 1987 when she received terrible news. Jerry and her mother had been killed in a car crash.

Despite everything, she loved them and she was devastated. She shelved her dreams and moved back home to become a surrogate mother to her four siblings. Twain never fully processed the tragedy, because she was too busy looking after the family. She supported them by singing at a local resort.

After the split from Lange, she began to think more about her parents’ death. “I started peeling back the layers of pain I was in and all the other griefs and disappointments and challenges came to the surface. And I thought: ‘I’ve been through worse and it’s time to put it all into perspective.’ When my parents died, I experienced a much deeper grief than even the betrayal. I was just out of myself. When you add shock to grief, it does crazy things to your mind. And that really helped me through – this was not nearly as bad as my parents dying. I survived that and I don’t want to give this so much credit.”

Looking after the family took six years out of her life. In 1993, she was finally signed to a record label and changed her name to Shania, which she says is an Ojibwa word for “on my way”. After one album, she hooked up with Lange and found global fame.

I ask whether she thinks of herself today as Eilleen or Shania. “Both. But when I speak to myself I say Eilleen: ‘Come on, Eilleen!’” Eilleen seems very different from Shania, I say. No, she insists, they are one and the same person – Shania is just the professional front. Actually, Twain concedes, there is a difference. Eilleen was a tomboy; possibly still is. She did not wear heels until she was in her 20s and she used to strap down her boobs so nobody would notice them. “I never got to the point where I would wear a bathing suit on the beach. I was always very, very shy of my body.” Is Eilleen as confident with men as Shania? “I was always very agreeable, always out to please my partner.” See, I say, Shania would be the one demanding to be pleased – she would wag her finger and say: “That don’t impress me much!” She laughs and agrees. “I’m a quiet person. I do like solitude. When I was a teenager, I was energetic, but annoyingly energetic. People called me ‘spaz’. It wasn’t a compliment. It was a little bit hurtful.”

How influential was Lange on her career? “Extremely infuential on the music. As a producer, he is very much a director as well; very hands-on and very talented. So, he was driving the direction of the sound. He didn’t drive the direction of my voice and never tried to change me.” Who drove the persona of Shania? “That was me, not Mutt. He was never part of the creative development in that sense. He drove the instrument choices, the sound, the groove. He was a bass player as a musician and he was very driven by the rhythm.”

Was she worried that she would lose her creative edge without him? “I was. I was petrified of giving in this album. I wasn’t afraid of writing, but I was scared of sharing the songs with anybody.”

Can she and Lange talk to each other these days? “Sure. I mean, we don’t hang out with each other.”

Marie-Anne was pregnant at the same time as Twain. These days, the two children move between homes. Incredibly, despite the fact they live only half a mile apart, Twain says she has never run into her former friend. “She’s the last person on the planet I want to run into. Ever.”

Why did she not think of moving away? “I just wasn’t going to be pushed out. This is my home, this is my child’s birthplace and I’m not going anywhere.”

Her antipathy towards her former friend is intensified by the fact that she confided in her when she thought Lange was having an affair and was told she was being delusional, that nobody would cheat on her. Twain says she often dreams of her. “I do really nasty things in my dreams to her,” she says with relish. “I’m always cutting her hair or shaving it off.”

She and Frédéric – Freddy – got together gradually, initially just as friends comforting each other; it was he who told her about the affair. She says it was more obvious to the children than to her that they were falling in love. Is this a different kind of love from the one she had with Lange? “Yes, it’s a passionate love on every level. I used to be very monotone in my relationships.” This time round, she has lost all her passivity, she says. “Poor Freddy pays the price, because I’m like: If I’m ever getting married again, this is me. I don’t think Mutt ever knew me. That’s the difference.”

Does she think she and Frédéric have come out better from this than Lange and Marie-Anne? “Absolutely. We are happier individuals, even without each other. We are way more confident in our own selves.” Would she say that to Lange? “No. I would never have anything personal to do with him again. That is an intimate thing.”

When my parents died, I experienced a much deeper grief than even the betrayal. I was just out of myself

I tell Twain that I feel bad naming her former friend in front of her. “Don’t say the name; you can say ‘c*nt’.” She roars with laughter, then tells herself off. “That is so disrespectful! I’m having a laugh.”

Twain, now 52, is surprising in so many ways – the quietness, the intensity, the mumsiness, the openness, the profanity. But she is not done with surprising just yet. If she could have her time over again, I ask, would she choose what she has now? “I would never choose for my son’s family to be broken,” she says instantly. “I would be one of those people who would keep my marriage together for my child ... I tried to keep Mutt.” She says it goes back to her own childhood. “Look at my situation. My parents could have killed each other. Maybe we would have been better off in foster homes, but I decided not to turn my family in, many times. There is something in me that says a family should stay together.”

It is not the only way in which she expresses her conservatism. If she had been able to vote in the US election, she would have plumped for Donald Trump, she says. “I would have voted for him because, even though he was offensive, he seemed honest. Do you want straight or polite? Not that you shouldn’t be able to have both. If I were voting, I just don’t want bullsh*t. I would have voted for a feeling that it was transparent. And politics has a reputation of not being that, right?”

She sips on her hot water and honey. That is more than enough talking for one day. She has to rest her throat for the upcoming Now tour. The funny thing is, she says she did not enjoy it when the world went Shania crazy all those years ago – it was all work and no life. Now, she may not be in such demand, but she is at ease with herself. She points to the scar on her neck. “It’s supposed to go away. But if it stays I don’t care. This is the difference. Whatever scars I have, I’ve earned.” She slides her finger across it. “I’m comfortable in my own skin.

The Now tour runs from 3 May to 22 December

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/22/shania-twain-unexpected-return-freak-illness-country-pop-star

For God's sake! People on Twitter are selling their tickets to her upcoming tour!

It's on websites everywhere. Even on Billboard.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8367037/shania-twain-donald-trump

Let it be said that the Hillary Campaign and the Democratic Party have used "Rock This Country" numerous times and always considered her a very progressive and liberating artist. So now she was on RuPaul DragRace. Over the past several days The Guardian posted she would of voted for Trump. Tommy I am on my cell phone typing this. Can you post that article. This is sending shockwaves throughout the LGBT community and across the internet. This really doesnt impress me much and I know exactly what is happening. I am trying refrain from posting much but what does everyone think? This is very unsettling and very distaste full. After all the doors she knocked down, she has became for females world wide, the lyrics and everything is literally gone out the window. Its like I want to throw everything away.  Don't anyone call me a snowflake or anything offensive. 

How embarrassing for her. To actually come out and say you support one of the biggest idiots on the planet and you would vote for him!? Her judgement is shot.

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/8367037/shania-twain-donald-trump

Tommy wrote:

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Statement from Shania on Facebook. She is trying to backpedal as I knew she would.

I would like to apologise to anybody I have offended in a recent interview with the Guardian relating to the American President. The question caught me off guard. As a Canadian, I regret answering this unexpected question without giving my response more context. I am passionately against discrimination of any kind and hope it’s clear from the choices I have made, and the people I stand with, that I do not hold any common moral beliefs with the current President. I was trying to explain, in response to a question about the election, that my limited understanding was that the President talked to a portion of America like an accessible person they could relate to, as he was NOT a politician. My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him. I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows.

7:37 PM ET - 22 Apr 18

https://www.facebook.com/ShaniaTwain/posts/10155954119032655

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I give Shania credit for her statement. She totally knew what she was saying in the interview. It's just a shame this country is so screwed up that people have to apologize for their comments, views, beliefs, etc. It's sad. It really is.

Tommy Will it hurt her tour?

DivaDewdHote wrote:

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Tommy wrote:

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Nash wrote:

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OMG she is nearing 1M followers on Twitter. Publicity whether good or bad, is still a publicity. I still love her no matter what. She is still the one for me!

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She is gaining a lot of Trump supporters.  

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I know what she is doing. Speaking from someone who has worked on political campaigns. 

 

1. She has a voice

2. She has her own right to speak 

3. She is an adult 

4. She is human 

5. She is in the entertainment industry

6. She is in the music career

7. She is not just a pretty face, she has had some black eyes and blue tears. 

 

Again I am sitting here mind****ed over this. Please notice this word "seems" 

 

seem

sēm/

verb

3rd person present: seems

1. give the impression or sensation of being something or having a particular quality.

   "Dawn seemed annoyed"

   synonyms:

   appear (to be), have the appearance/air of being, give the impression of being, look, look as though one is, show signs of being, look to be; More

   • used to make a statement or description of one's thoughts, feelings, or actions less assertive or forceful.

     "I seem to remember giving you very precise instructions"
   • be unable to do something, despite having tried.

     "he couldn't seem to remember his lines"

      

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From the world of political science and is active words are words, actions are actions and that is where she has said. You can take my songs and my lyrics to be used in your own life and if it helps you, it helps you, if it makes you better, it makes you better. She is a straight shooter and she tells it like it is. That is what is scary and odd because the conservative Nashville machine DID not like it, never likes it and will not tolerate it. Its how the industry treated her over the years and how she was basically told you are nothing more than a BLEEP! Who called who a BLEEP! What needs to be corrected is that we automatically think one thing but it turns out its fake, it's phony and it wrong. What happens to Shania Twain over the weekend was the worst, terrible and this is what I was have been posting for quite some time. Please, Shania Twain fans please please let her lyrics, her word, her records, her presences, her involvement with the community, her track record, her truth, her wisdom and herself speak to the haters, the naysayers and yes to those who can't stand the truth. You see right now Nashville, country radio, communities, and society has gone ****ing off the rails. This bull **** like she has said is unreal and really damaging. She is trying to light the way for positivity and not negativity with her music today. I strongly suggest we keep that political mudslinging, negativity, and language off this possibility. Its ok to speak your thoughts but right now we must be constructive, have her back and to keep moving forward. Please listen to me and listen well! She is only stated she said "seem" honest and hat the bull **** because she is not dumb or stupid. She is well aware of the bull **** what we have been through. She reads the paper, the post, watches tv and is just like you and me. She is a human and she is a woman, she is a mother, she is a professional and she is Shania. Think about this. It might "seems" she is looking for some push for her NOW CD and NOW TOUR. Look at the release of this interview and this conversation we are currently having with the world and TRUMP! She knows what she is doing. She is SMART! I hope this helps us and I wish we can post the love she needs. 

One can do this and I think Tommy you might need to do this. Please contact Timmins, Ontario, Canada, Switzerland, and Bermuda to find out what she is registered as to vote in those municipalities, providence and nations. This information like the information we are finding out about Trump and he is a fraud and the worst President we have would prove her that she did get caught off guard and she was a victim of The Guardian. Trust me with all due respects. Shania Twain's management is right now drawing up the papers for possibly defamation, slander and legal terms I could type. Trust me right now the wheels of either justice or truth is working. I am sitting here and beginning to wonder if this is a direct hit to me because what I have been posting in here, On Facebook when I had Facebook, Tweeting and on social media. I am not trying to take it personal but she was just on RuPual's DragRace and how excited I was. Election seaons is hot and heavy where I live and other factors but I am sitting here tryng my best to help us fans take some hold on this, come together for her and to see what is going on. I can type more but I hope everyone is getting it. Please ask me anything and let's work together to shut down these naysays and the haters. 

Dubyalicious wrote:

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I disagree that Shania has a reputation for being a straight-shooter. She told us for 15 years that a new album was coming "soon." When she finally announced that NOW was happening, we got conflicting release dates for the single/album. She told us that RTC was going to be her last tour. She either changes her mind on a whim or just doesn't think before she speaks. So I take the quote with a tiny grain of salt. But again this isn't really something she needed to say at all.

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By straight-shooter, I mean she's a strong-willed, independent woman who doesn't let other people influence her. She tells it like it is and says what's on her mind.

she's canadian! she didn't actually vote in the united states election! it was a hypothetical answer to an irrelevant question—and her full quote actually revealed a bigger criticism of a political state that's so inaccessible to its constituents that trump wins in spite of his flaws. 

besides, how welcoming can the opposing party/ies be when, in the same interview where shania opens up for the first time about the suicides in her family and being molested by her step-father, they choose instead to focus solely on a quote taken out of context and then encourage everyone to abandon her completely? personally i would like to thank shania for her candour in this interview and express how sorry i am that her willingness to be vulnerable has been so taken for granted.

shania twain is responsible for writing and performing some of the breakthrough (and to-this-day biggest) crossover hits that spanned formats, regions, age groups, sexes, and sexualities; and her appeal, alliance, and acceptance has certainly been responsible for changed hearts and attitudes over 25 years (particularly to conservative country audiences of the mid to late 90s) and nothing / no one can ever discredit that.

so, don't let the loud voices mislead you… they don't know who or what they're talking about and will find something new to be outraged about tomorrow.

Why Shania Twain’s Apology Can’t Un-Ring The Trump Bell

The singer-songwriter said on Sunday that she’d have voted for Trump if she weren’t Canadian, and then quickly apologized. But some things you can’t take back. 

https://www.fastcompany.com/40562598/why-shania-twains-apology-cant-un-ring-the-trump-bell

Butters wrote:

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Of course she is trying to backpedal. Which makes her appear to be a coward. She should stand by her beliefs. If she supports a sexist, racist, anti-women, anti-handicap, anti-environment (and I could go on and on and on.....) piece of cr*p like Drumpf then she should have the guts to stick to her beliefs.

And yes, she has the right to vote for anyone she wants. And I have a right to think her beliefs are disgusting.

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her life's work stands in opposition to each of the prejudices you've outlined. when you look beyond the sensational headlines and actually read the interview in question, you see the resigned context within which shania casts her imaginary vote **again, she's canadian** we also don't know what wasn't printed. we don't know if she was provided options to choose from and her choice was trump or if her point was that anti-establishment candidates generally get her vote.

here's an interesting opinion column from the toronto star: https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/opinion/2018/04/23/why-shania-twain-was-wrong-to-apologize.html
"As one of the best-selling singers in history, it’s easy to forget Twain’s childhood in Timmins was punctuated by poverty and familial dysfunction. In fact, had she not been blessed with real musical chops, it’s possible she’d now be clearing dishes in a waffle house ... Twain broke free. She shattered the socioeconomic trajectory of most others in similar childhood predicaments. She started life behind the proverbial 8-ball and then cleared the pool table with one magical shot that continues to bank off the edges of good fortune."

matteotempo wrote:

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It's far too easy to be a fan when everything goes the right way or the way we think is right.
The real fans can be seen when they stick with their idol when he or she does something that might hurt the public opinion, like in this case.
I refuse to believe that suddenly all the songs some people fell in love with are thrown away just because Shania spoke her mind (maybe a little incautiously...).
Personally, I couldn't care less about who she would or wouldn't vote. I do know her story. Do I think she might be a racist? No! Do I think she might be a homophobic? No! Do I think she might be against women? Mmm, let me just READ her song titles... No!!
She's human and this is the first false step she's made in 25 years. I can live with that.
It's so sad many people can't.

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 The only false step she made was apologizing. She said nothing wrong  and just gave her opinion as to why a section of Trump fans voted for him, basically because he is not politically correct and doesn't give a crap about what the snowflakes think or how he is perceived. She didn't say she agreed with everything he says lol lol So called fans who are upset about her statements don't know her at all obviously and i wouldn't want those clown for fans. Lots of people would would vote for Trump over Crooked hillary. I was never political and i am Canadiabn but the media and liberal meltdown after Trump won was priceless an the exact reason he won. You losers who are upset with Shania, get a life. She has her whole career stood for good, and she says one thing that butt hurts you morons and you turn on her. She caved in to the liberal mob on social media, the intolerable left. Hey idiots, she didn't say she agrees with everything Trump says. Only a total moron would think Shania was against any race,religion or sexual preference and those people aren't even fans anyway.  I am upset she caved and apologized to these losers on social media but i do understand it and forgive her, not that she needs my forgiveness.  And i am far from gay lol but any of you gay Shania fans who are upset at her go take a hike because who would want you clowns as fans. Shania has always been for inclusion and you are just stupid if you don't understand what she meant by her comments. Sorry for all the harsh words but seriously some people are so dumb they don't deserve to be on social media.  i am not directing this post at you, just any fan who thinks any differently of Shania today than they did last week.

Here's something that came to mind. I wonder if there will be protesters with signs outside and/or inside Shania's concerts. That would be crazy!

And also next Monday on the "TODAY" show outside on Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Things could get chaotic! I wonder if she would consider cancelling if things don't calm down by the end of the week. People are still fired up on Twitter.

DivaDewdHote wrote:

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HumbleKevy wrote:

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matteotempo wrote:

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It's far too easy to be a fan when everything goes the right way or the way we think is right.
The real fans can be seen when they stick with their idol when he or she does something that might hurt the public opinion, like in this case.
I refuse to believe that suddenly all the songs some people fell in love with are thrown away just because Shania spoke her mind (maybe a little incautiously...).
Personally, I couldn't care less about who she would or wouldn't vote. I do know her story. Do I think she might be a racist? No! Do I think she might be a homophobic? No! Do I think she might be against women? Mmm, let me just READ her song titles... No!!
She's human and this is the first false step she's made in 25 years. I can live with that.
It's so sad many people can't.

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 The only false step she made was apologizing. She said nothing wrong  and just gave her opinion as to why a section of Trump fans voted for him, basically because he is not politically correct and doesn't give a crap about what the snowflakes think or how he is perceived. She didn't say she agreed with everything he says lol lol So called fans who are upset about her statements don't know her at all obviously and i wouldn't want those clown for fans. Lots of people would would vote for Trump over Crooked hillary. I was never political and i am Canadiabn but the media and liberal meltdown after Trump won was priceless an the exact reason he won. You losers who are upset with Shania, get a life. She has her whole career stood for good, and she says one thing that butt hurts you morons and you turn on her. She caved in to the liberal mob on social media, the intolerable left. Hey idiots, she didn't say she agrees with everything Trump says. Only a total moron would think Shania was against any race,religion or sexual preference and those people aren't even fans anyway.  I am upset she caved and apologized to these losers on social media but i do understand it and forgive her, not that she needs my forgiveness.  And i am far from gay lol but any of you gay Shania fans who are upset at her go take a hike because who would want you clowns as fans. Shania has always been for inclusion and you are just stupid if you don't understand what she meant by her comments. Sorry for all the harsh words but seriously some people are so dumb they don't deserve to be on social media.  i am not directing this post at you, just any fan who thinks any differently of Shania today than they did last week.

-- Edited by HumbleKevy on Monday 23rd of April 2018 06:08:56 PM

As an American, I find this very offensive! VERY! I spoke before on how we should KEEP THE POLITICS OUT OF THIS AND FOCUS ON SHANIA! I have posted before on how things are going to shape up with the current climate across all Nations! It's great you spoke in such negative and hateful manner. You are probably pissing off more and more people. You just post your thoughts right now. Now you are apologizing like Shania apologized? Do you see how that goes now? "Sorry for posting this and saying what I feel" BLAH BLAH. Shania I mean Eileen has more class, more respect and more of a "voice" now. But this post above and yours before on here is somewhat and clearly offensive. A simple reminder that it took the British to discover coding and it took the Americans to put the world wide web together. Now does that hurt those Canadians? Possibly oh wait I spoke my mind and you are probably going to jump me right? So please this is exactly what Trump wants to do and exactly what the ALT RIGHT/FOX NEWS/RIGHT WING wants us to do. I know my father would kick me ass if I spoke like this or the way you do. I know my mother would wash my mouth out with soap but honestly. This is very very offensive. You HumbleKevy have posted some several divisive posts like I may have posted too. Remember you got the Queen of England and her family to thank for the problems in your county. We have a problem with Trump and Russia! If you not for us, you are against us, if you go low, we go high. Up up up can only go up from here right?  So I will quote you. If you are pissed or upset at my post I am sorry oops I did it again I pulled a "Shania" 

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 i was sarcastically apologizing lol i don't take anything back i said. Anyone who claims to be a Shania fan and is even a tiny bit offended by her comments could take a hike. Everyone who knows anything about Shania at all knows who she is and what she stands for. I wasn't directing my rant at you just in general to the outraged people on twitter. I am upset she apologized, she said nothing at all wrong.l Yes i think your country is messed up, the liberals are more worried about impeaching a president than the welfare of your own people. Both sides are corrupt , but Hillary clinton takes the cake in being corrupt and ruining peoples lives so lots of people would of voted for trump too if they could.  I was never political but when Trump won and saw hysteria from the media and liberals i thought to myself liberalism is a disease lol  Anyway i am upset she apologized when she said nothing wrong at all. It made if worse when she said sorry. 

Tommy wrote:

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Here's something that came to mind. I wonder if there will be protesters with signs outside and/or inside Shania's concerts. That would be crazy!

And also next Monday on the "TODAY" show outside on Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. Things could get chaotic! I wonder if she would consider cancelling if things don't calm down by the end of the week. People are still fired up on Twitter.

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if chaos and protests ensue against right to vote and freedom of speech, my, how far we've fallen 

Tommy wrote:

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Tommy wrote:

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Statement from Shania on Facebook. She is trying to backpedal as I knew she would.

I would like to apologise to anybody I have offended in a recent interview with the Guardian relating to the American President. The question caught me off guard. As a Canadian, I regret answering this unexpected question without giving my response more context. I am passionately against discrimination of any kind and hope it’s clear from the choices I have made, and the people I stand with, that I do not hold any common moral beliefs with the current President. I was trying to explain, in response to a question about the election, that my limited understanding was that the President talked to a portion of America like an accessible person they could relate to, as he was NOT a politician. My answer was awkward, but certainly should not be taken as representative of my values nor does it mean I endorse him. I make music to bring people together. My path will always be one of inclusivity, as my history shows.

7:37 PM ET - 22 Apr 18

https://www.facebook.com/ShaniaTwain/posts/10155954119032655

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I give Shania credit for her statement. She totally knew what she was saying in the interview. It's just a shame this country is so screwed up that people have to apologize for their comments, views, beliefs, etc. It's sad. It really is.

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The problem most people have with her apology is "The question caught me off guard." She wasn't on live TV or radio and had the time to gather her thoughts and say what she wanted to say. Or just not say anything. She said exactly what she wanted to say. Period. And that's fine. But apologizing and backpedaling just makes it worse.