In an interview with Billboard during the preparations for her 2023 tour, Shania Twain revealed an incredibly uplifting setlist that she once thought she would never perform again just five years prior. She had put in a lot of effort to return to music and was now juggling a rigorous daily practice routine while overseeing everything from lighting to costumes.
Twain’s journey began in her youth, and it has been anything but easy. From her impoverished upbringing to challenging the patriarchal norms of a male-dominated industry, her story is filled with struggles. The release of her triumphant album and her return to the stage after a hiatus that could have ended the careers of many artists showcase her remarkable strength and resilience, qualities forged through a lifetime of adversity.
Her challenges started at birth. In her autobiography, From This Moment On, she recounted a traumatic breech delivery where the doctor informed her mother that her daughter had died. Against all odds, Twain eventually took her first breath. Born Eilleen Regina Edwards, she was her mother’s second child and the first with her husband, Clarence Edwards. Twain’s older sister, Jill, was born shortly after their mother’s fiancé died in a car accident, and her marriage to Edwards was no more successful.
Twain’s parents separated when she was very young, and despite her mother’s assurance that her father had chosen to sever ties with the family, Twain often wondered about him. “Growing up, I knew he existed,” she wrote. “I wondered if he cared about me and what he thought of me.”
When her mother remarried, Twain was about to start kindergarten. She described her stepfather, Jerry Twain, an Ojibway Native, as having “a bright, charming personality with a playful character and plenty of jokes and pranks up his sleeve.” Yet, she recognized even as a child that her parents had a tumultuous relationship, despite her admiration for her stepfather.
Twain has been candid about how her family’s poverty impacted her upbringing. During a conversation with Hoda Kotb on Making Space with Hoda Kotb, she shared stories of the hardships of growing up in Canada, lacking essentials like warm clothes and waterproof boots, and how she had to fabricate excuses to skip lunch.
In her memoir, she reflected on the family’s ongoing financial struggles, which eventually led to violence. She recounted a harrowing incident where her stepfather “slammed her [mother’s] head against the side of the basin, knocking her out cold,” likely due to her complaints about not having enough money for groceries. She described him repeatedly dunking her mother’s head in the toilet bowl.
During one confrontation, Twain and her sisters fled outside to the snowy porch, crying out for help. She recalled that when the police arrived, the fighting ceased, with the officers remarking, “Until next time.”
If you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at (800) 799-7233. Additional resources and support can be found on their website.