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Why Shania Twain’s Magic Formula Is “Still the One” for Female Country Singers 30 Years Later

By Cindy Watts | American Songwriter | June 24, 2025 

Three decades after Shania Twain notably notched her first No. 1 hit, she continues to influence female country artists. “Any Man of Mine” was a sassy, confident directive about Twain’s expectations from the men she dates.

Did she burn dinner? Sure, but he’d better like it. Is another woman prettier than her? Absolutely not. And if she’s having a bad hair day, forget about it. Nothing she says or does, no matter how questionable, is up for debate. Oh, and she delivered her assertions in a cropped, white tank top complete with exposed midriff. While that is hardly edgy by today’s standards, in 1995, it bordered on scandalous.

Do Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, and many other female country stars have the same careers stacked with genre-bending songs and fashion-forward outfits if Twain hadn’t pushed the boundaries first? Ballerini called Twain her “friend and hero” when she honored the Canadian in 2022 with her version of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” at an Academy of Country Music event. Twain’s dancers from her Las Vegas residency even joined Ballerini for the performance. Twain danced in her seat and sang along, then gave Ballerini a standing ovation.

“Please give it up for my hero, Shania Twain,” Ballerini shouted from the stage. Twain put her hand over her heart.

Kelsea Ballerini: “Please Give It Up for My Hero”

And Ballerini isn’t the only one who feels that way. Artists including Carly Pearce, Lindsay Ell, Danielle Bradbery, and Raelynn have all shared their love of Twain, who is the top-selling female artist in country music history.

“As a child, all I knew was I wanted to be Shania or Faith,” Pearce told Billboard. “Now I’m understanding why, and I’m understanding just how much they had an impact on the artist I am now when I didn’t understand anything at eight years old, except for that I liked their music.”

Pearce believes Twain’s influence ripples through her visuals, her songwriting, and her production.

“Nobody will ever sound like Shania or write the way Shania did,” Pearce said.

She sang Twain’s “Honey, I’m Home” at every karaoke contest she remembers entering. Pearce said the opening drum loop made the song instantly recognizable.

“She had such an iconic production sound that I feel like you knew immediately when it was a Shania song,” she said. “There are so many lyrics in that song that are so funny, but they just were the Shania way of writing songs. In a lot of ways, you see that with Maren [Morris], or you see that with Kacey [Musgraves], and hopefully, you see that with me. There’s just a style of writing where you’re like, ‘I know exactly who that is.’”

Lindsay Ell Wanted to Be Shania Twain—Then Played Guitar for Her

In 1995, a six-year-old Lindsay Ell clutched her plastic microphone while belting out the words to Twain’s “No One Needs to Know” at home in Calgary, Alberta. Ell idolized Twain, a fellow Canadian, and 10 years later, the budding singer had a van and a plan.

Ell dreamed of moving more than 2,000 miles to Nashville in the hopes of following in Twain’s bedazzled footsteps. She could only afford one car, so while her friends pulled into her high school’s parking lot in Honda Civics, Ell rolled through with a van packed with musical gear from her regular three-hour sets at local bars.

“I was the coolest-not-coolest person in high school,” Ell told The Tennessean. “I was just a wide-eyed, blonde Canadian, and I thought I was going to take over the world.”

Ell played guitar for Twain at her Las Vegas residency, which ended in February, and dueted with her on “Party for Two.”

“She was just such a role model to me,” Ell told Billboard. “I mean, here’s a strong woman who is not afraid to be sexy, but at the same time be classy—and at the same time, say something in her songs. That’s a fine line for women to walk, but Shania did it so effortlessly, and yet she wasn’t afraid to still be cutting edge and walk out on a limb.”

Bradbery called Twain “a big inspiration” musically, vocally, and stylistically.” She explained that Twain, who lived in Switzerland with her (now ex) husband, rock producer Mutt Lang, adopted a global sound that prompted people to pay attention.

Shania Twain is a “Big Inspiration”

RaeLynn, who recently reinked a deal with The Valory Music Co. in partnership with Red Van Records/Jonas Group Entertainment, believes Twain’s music is so timeless that she could release any of her hits in their original form today. They’d still fit on country radio.

“There’s something about having timeless music, and that’s one thing that I learned,” RaeLynn said. “When I put out music, I want the song that I’m putting out to be relevant for years. I want it to be timeless. And that’s one thing that I always kinda think about when I pick out songs to release—‘Is this going to go out of style?’ Or ‘Is this lyric or this melody something that could live on for a while?’”

Thirty years after Twain started charting hits, she remains she is the only female artist in history to have three consecutive albums certified Diamond by the RIAA and is the seventh best-selling female artist in the United States. According to Billboard Boxscore, she is the highest-grossing female country touring artist, with $421.1 million in gross revenue from her tours.

Women wanted to be Twain so badly and related to her so strongly that they didn’t feel threatened by her overt sexuality. Contemporary female country singers still consider her a golden trailblazer who holds the elusive key to acceptance and career longevity.

https://americansongwriter.com/why-shania-twains-magic-formula-is-still-the-one-for-female-country-singers-30-years-later/