Trigger Warning: This article mentions domestic violence and abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
Every year, a country artist becomes the hot new thing, from Ella Langley to Morgan Wallen, but none compare to Shania Twain.
She is the best-selling female country artist of all time, with five Grammy Awards, 75 million albums sold worldwide, and her 1997 album Come On Over is the best-selling studio album by a female artist in any genre.
Shania brilliantly combined country and pop between 1993 to 2002, and ultimately changed the genre forever.
But the Canadian-born star is more than her illustrious career, singing of love and female empowerment.
Before Shania signed her first major record deal in 1991, aged 26, she faced a difficult childhood suffering from abuse.
She has detailed her upbringing in the memoir From This Moment On, and the documentary Shania Twain: Not Just a Girl. However, are we just scraping the surface? Because a new biopic on Shania’s life story is underway.
Plot details for the film are, of course, being kept under wraps. However, Deadline has revealed the movie, titled Shania, will be scripted and produced by the legend herself. Working alongside Leah McKendrick as director, and producer Amie Karp for Sony Pictures.
Biopics are one of the latest trends in Hollywood. Sony Pictures alone has released Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody, and The Beatles – A Four-Film Cinematic Event.
Michael Jackson’s biopic reached $900 million at the worldwide box office just two months after its release. Some other iconic biopics include Bohemian Rhapsody, Rocketman, Pam & Tommy, and A Complete Unknown.
It is yet to be revealed what new topics Shania will cover, or if there’ll be any new information at all.
Her 2011 memoir seemingly covered most of the basis as she delved deeply into her personal life. In her own words, we discovered how she grew up in poverty with her mother Sharon and stepfather Jerry, who was violent physically and psychologically. Later, Shania added sexually to that list during a 2018 interview with The Guardian.
Her autobiography also opened up about her parents death in 1987 following a car accident. Afterwards, she put her career on hold to raise her three younger siblings.
“My younger sister was still living at home, and my two younger brothers were still, you know, 13 and 14 years old,” Shania said in 2023 on the Making Space with Hoda Kotb podcast.
“We all agreed that they shouldn’t be separated. But no relatives were able to take both of them in. So, the only way to keep them together was for us to stay together.”
She also discussed her singing career – which began at just eight years old to help pay bills. Another major moment was the breakdown of her marriage to Robert ‘Mutt’ Lange following an affair.
“I lost my sense of trust, honesty and compassion. I crashed down and became what I consider an emotional mess. I’ve never been so miserable in my whole life. I just wanted to go to bed and never get up,” she said on The Oprah Winfrey Show at the time.
As for her Netflix documentary which was released more than a decade later in 2022, it focused on her rise to global stardom, her subtle acts of feminism, breaking records and her vocal recovery.
It does briefly cover some of the more traumatic moments of her life – because Shania wouldn’t be the powerhouse woman we love and respect without these moments.
While her life at 60 years old may look a little different, Shania is still rocking the stage. In an interview with The Times, she did pulled back the curtain as a woman experiencing menopause, body image and how she has embraced all these changes.
“In menopause you lose control of your body,” Shania admitted to The Times. “So all of a sudden I’m bloating and I’m definitely not in control. I can’t just lose five pounds.”
Noticing her changing figure, Shania admitted she couldn’t look at herself in the mirror.
“I hated my body. I’m, like, ‘Oh, I cannot stand this changing body.’ But that was so unhealthy. Who cannot look at themselves in the mirror?” she said.
“Now I’m, like, bring on the mirrors, I’m going to look at myself all day long! Menopause has been very good for me because I’ve learnt that some things you cannot control.”
If you or someone you know has been affected by any of the issues raised in this article, help is always available. Call 1800 RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit their website.
