biography

Shania'sBiography

Name: Shania Twain
Birth Name: Eilleen Regina Edwards
Date of Birth: August 28th, 1965
Birthplace: Windsor Ontario, Canada
Age: 38
Hair Colour: Brown
Eye Colour: Green
Hometwon: Timmins Ontario, Canada
Siblings: Two sisters; Jill and Carrie Ann, two half-brothers; Darryl and Mark, parents the late Jerry and Sharon Twain (birth father is Clarence Edwards)
Nicknames: Leenie and Woody
Height: 5'4
Weight: 110lbs
Husband: Robert John 'Mutt' Lange
Shoe size: 6 1/2

Shania Twain was born Eilleen Regina Edwards on the 28th of August 1965 in Windsor Ontario Canada, the second of three children. A few years later her father Clarence and mother Sharon divorced. Sharon and the three children Jill, Shania and Carrie-Ann moved to Timmins Ontario whee Sharon met and married Objiwa (Native Canadian) Jerry Twain who adopted the 3 girls. Soon after they were married they had 2 children Mark and Daryll. Shania and her family grew up in what you could only call relative poverty and her mother was often depressed. Usually in winter they had to hunt for ther food otherwise they would starve. They would often eat things Shania's friends and school mates wouldn't dream of eating but if they didn't eat it they would starve. 'Most kids feel inferior if they don't have the right jeans on, I was way beyond that. I was worried about what was in my lunch. Nobody knew we were hungry, and I did everything I could to hide it,' says Shania.
She would often take bread with mustard on it too school to make it look like she had a some lunch, terrified that the authorities would take her away from her family. But although all this was going on Sharon still felt the need to nurture her daughters obvious talent early on. Shania can remember when she was 3 her mother putting her on tabletops to sing. Then at the young age of 8 she was performing her parents favourite country songs in old peoples homes and bars (after midnight when all the liquor had stopped being served) Behind all this was the support of her parents who wanted her to succeed. Sharon was booking her in everywhere and Shania loved to sing as her sister Carrie-Ann once commented 'Shania would always be singing, even just walking down the street. I'd be so embarassed.'
At the age of 10 Shania started writing her own songs dreaming of a better life. When she was in her teens she had a job at the local McDonalds after school and she worked at her fathers reforestation business and at the age of 16 she played in her first band. A band named Longshot, 'We were pretty good actually, pretty dangerous for my hometown and pretty popular (FHM 1998)
Then when she was 21 years old she moved from Timmins to work in Toronto, secretary by day and singer by night. Until she got the call that would change her life forever, when she was just 22 years old her sister rang her with the terrible news that her parents had be killed in a car accident. Both of her brothers were also in the vehicle and survived. This turned young Eilleen's life upside down, ''Yes, you can lose somebody overnight, yes your whole life can be turned upside down. Life is short. It can come and go like a feather in the wind.'' (Country America 1998)
She went back home to be with her brothers and sister Carrie Ann, where she would continue to help raise them until they were old enough to take care of themselves. She moved them to Hunstville Ontario where she performed at the Deerhurst Resort night after night, as a singer. She looks back on this as good experience and a learning period, like going to music school, which she never had a chance to do.

While at Deerhurst family friend Mary Bailey set up a meeting with some guys from Nashville, who came to see her perform at Deerhurst. They invited her to Nashville to cut a demo. Soon after, when her siblings had all left the nest, she was offered her first recording contract with Mercury Nashville. The first album wasn't a big success but it did gather attention from a certain south african record producer called Mutt Lange. Then living in England, he would watch CMT Europe for the lastest releases. One day he happened to see Shania's video for 'What made you say that?' and immediately wanted to know more. A friend in Nashville sent him Shania's CD. He contacted Mary Bailey in the hope of getting to speak to Shania and in return was sent a signed photo. He didn't give up however, and soon he and Shania were talking on the phone on a regular basis and sharing song ideas. They finally met at fan fair June 1993 and already were best friends. Over the next few months they wrote songs together whenever they could and eventually they found that they had fallen in love, on December 28th 1993 they were married. The next six years went like a whirlwind, two hugely successful albums, co-written and produced by her husband Robert John Mutt lange (The Woman In Me and Come On Over) and a high profile, highly successful world tour. With Shania's enthusiam for life you can be sure there is a lot more to come, ''You never know what's around the next corner, but you have to be willing to explore it, '' she told Country America magazine.

Come On Over is the biggest-selling country album of all time by any artist, male or female, and is now tied as the fifth best-selling single CD release, following The Eagles, Michael Jackson, Led Zeppelin and Fleetwood Mac. The soundtrack to ''The Bodyguard'' shares that slot with ''Come On Over''. After Come on Over was released and the tour was finished Shania disappeared for about 5 years before coming back onto the music scene with her latest album Up! and the news that she had had a baby Eja(pronounced Asia - who is now 2)
And so far Up! has been a roaring success.

But even with this much success Shania remains firmly grounded, attending her high school reunion in summer 2000 without a bodyguard. She lives in Switzerland with her husband and child Mutt Lange and Eja, loves horses and her dogs. She tries to keep her life as normal as possible and dislikes being treated like a star.

A rare breed of talent with a warmth that reaches her fans worldwide because of her undeniable quality to interact with her audience in a down to earth way. This makes Shania a people's person and a success story that is sure to grow.