Shania Twain

Shania Twain (shu-NYE-uh, born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter who has been very successful in the country and pop music genres. She was the first female artist ever to have two consecutive albums be certified as Diamond, which entails shipments of over 10 million copies (not albums sold). Her fourth album, UP was also certified Diamond, however it only shipped 5.5 million copies, but since it's a double disc, and per the rules of the RIAA, it got a double certification.

Career success

Initially known as a country singer, her music veered towards pop with huge commercial success following her collaboration with (and subsequent marriage to) rock producer Robert "Mutt" Lange. Her album The Woman in Me caught fire due to singles like "Any Man of Mine" and "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" It eventually topped the country charts for months and became a massive crossover to mainstream charts, peaking at No. 5 and topping out at 12 million sold.

Related Topics:
Country - Pop - Robert "Mutt" Lange - The Woman in Me

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In 1997, Twain released her follow-up album, Come on Over. Selling 172,000 out of the gate and peaking at No. 2, the album was seen by many at first as a disappointment, given the massive success of her last effort. But slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the single "You're Still the One", sales skyrocketed. Songs like "Don't Be Stupid," "Man! I Feel like a Woman," "That Don't Impress Me Much," and "From This Moment On" joined the 11 songs that eventually saw release as singles. Over the next two years, the album stayed on the charts, spinning off hit after hit. She toured the globe in support of the album. When the dust finally settled, Come on Over had sold 16 million copies in America and 34 million worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album by a female artist of all time, the biggest-selling country album of all time and the #6 selling album of all time.Many newer fans were totally unaware of her country music roots, particularly as singles released outside the United States and Canada featured remixed versions de-emphasising country-style instrumentation. She was voted the sexiest vegetarian alive by a People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals award in 2000.After having a child in 2001, Shania Twain went back into the studio. Up! was released in November of 2002, making it five years since the world had new material from her, and she toured again to promote it.A double-album, it featured 19 songs in pop mixes and the same 19 songs in country mixes. Internationally the country mixes were replaced by world mixes. Though it garnered some of the most tepid reviews of the year (it was even called the worst album of 2002 by Spin and Details magazine)Up! debuted at No. 1 , selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It charted at the top for five weeks.

Related Topics:
1997 - Come on Over - People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - 2000 - 2001 - Up! - November of 2002

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The first single off of the album "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!," became a modest country hit, but the follow-up single. the title track, failed to ignite radio; however the third single off the album would be the most successful:"Forever and For Always" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at #4 on the country chart and #1 on the AC chart. It spent 6 weeks at #1 on the Billboard AC chart, and hit # 20 at pop radio.After that success, the fourth single, She's Not Just A Pretty Face, managed to hit the Country Top Ten but tanked at pop and AC radio, and the followup, a ballad called It Only Hurts When I Breathe, did even worse, not even reaching the Country or the AC Top Ten and failing to crack the Pop Top Forty.To date, Up,! has sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S., 11 million copies worldwide, a massive success for any other artist, but a big disappointment after Come On Over's blockbuster numbers.In 2004, she decided to release a greatest hits album. To date, it has sold over three million copies in the U.S..

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The three new singles released from the album had varying degrees of radio success:Party For Two, multi-format duet, was recorded with two different singing partners (Up'n coming country hunk Billy Currington and Sugar Ray's frontman Mark McGrath) and released to both country and pop radio. In country radio it stalled at # 7, but in pop radio it flopped, not even hitting the top forty.Shania Twain has always seen herself as a songwriter; part of her initial dissatisfaction with the Nashville music scene was her record company's expectation that she would use outside songwriters. Shania writes all of her own material. All of the songs on "The Woman In Me," "Come On Over," "Up!" and the new songs on her "Greatest Hits" CD were written by Shania along with her husband "Mutt" Lange. Shania writes most of the words, while "Mutt" writes the music.In spite of all her commercial success, Twain has never garnered overwhelming critical praise.

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In fact, many factions still consider her just a gorgeous studio mannequin with a so-so voice, who got lucky and simply was in the right place at the right time.

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(Infamous country outlaw Steve Earle called her "the highest paid lap dancer in Nashville)

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And Nashville traditionalists still consider her a pop singer who simply markets her music as country.

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Twain, who lives in Switzerland with Lange and their son Eja, is currently working on her next studio album which is scheduled for release in 2006. On August 28, 2005, she celebrated her 40th birthday.

Related Topics:
Switzerland - 2006 - August 28 - 2005

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In August of 2005, it was announced that Shania had recorded a new song. The new track is a song called "Shoes," and will be featured on the Desperate Housewives soundtrack, in stores September 20th. The song will be the first single from the soundtrack and Shania will be flying to New York to shoot a video for the single with the Desperate Housewives cast. The single and video are expected to be released by mid October 2005

Related Topics:
Desperate Housewives - Soundtrack - September 20 - New York - Video

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