Eileen Regina Edwards was born on August 28, 1965. She later adopted the name Shania Twain in 1990. Shania is an Ojibway name meaning "I'm On My Way". She picked up her last name from her stepfather ,Jerry Twain, who was an Ojibway Indian. Shania was born in Windsor, Ontario and raised in Timmons, Ontario. Shania Twain is one of the most famous country music artists in the business. She is also now being played on pop music stations everywhere.

Her biological parents are Clarence and Sharon Edwards. Clarence left Shania and her mother when she was two years old. Jerry Twain met and married Shania's mother later on in life. Shania is Irish and French-Canadian. She was raised with the Ojibway Indian Culture. Her siblings are: Jill, Carrie-Ann, Mark, and Darryl. She is the second oldest of five children. Her family was not very wealthy. She usually never ate breakfast or lunch. When she got home from school she would have very little for supper.

Shania says that she pretty much missed her childhood. Her career in music has been very time consuming as a child.

"I used to be dragged out of bed at 1:00 A.M. and they would bring me to the local club to play with the band. You see, they couldn't allow me in a liquor premise before 1:00 A.M. When they stopped serving, I'd get up and sing a few songs with the band, and before I know it, I was actually doing clubs professionally. From the age of eight, I was doing weekends, the odd gig here and there. I did everything my parents could get me on. Every TV station, every radio station, every community center, every senior center," she laughs. "They had me doing everything!"
"My mother lived for my career. We were extremely poor when I was a kid, and my mother was often depressed with five children and no food to feed them. She knew I was talented and she lived with the hope that my abilities were my chance to do something special."

Shania also spent many summers working with her father as a foreman for a 13-man reforestation crew in the middle of the Canadian bush.

When Shania was only 21, both of her parents were killed in an automobile crash. This made her pursue her music career even more than before. She now took on the responsibilities of raising her two younger brothers who were only 13 and 14 at the time. Shania took a singing job at a resort. She later then bought a home, a family truck, and then settled down.

"When they left, I felt like a 45 year old woman whose kids had gone away to college. I was like "WOW!" I have my whole life to live now. I had all this time on my hands. I didn't have to cook and clean for anyone . Didn't have to pay any bills but mine. " she explains, her voice picking up speed. "Didn't have to go to school meetings. Didn't have to pick them up after work and take them to teen dances. Drive them here. Drive them there. It was like 'I'm free!!!' I said 'now what am I gonna do with my life?' I decided to go for it!"

Shania put together a demo tape of her original music. She didn't even go to Nashville right away. Her manager and longtime pal Mary Bailey arranged for Richard Frank to come to a showcase in Canada. He set her up for a meeting with producer Norro Wilson. She was then introduced to Buddy Cannon, who was in A & R at Mercury Nashville at the time. Then Shania's music career started. She got her first record deal. Then Shania's self-titled debut album came out. The singles that were released from this album are: "What Made You Say That?", "Dance With The One That Brought You", and "You Lay A Whole Lot Of Love On Me". Although Shania writes all of her own music, her first album only included one of her own songs. This song is "God Ain't Gonna Getcha For That".

Producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange heard Shania's music and immediately was interested in hearing more. Mutt is a famous rock producer for very popular bands such as: AC/DC, The Cars, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bryan Adams, and many others. Shania and Mutt first talked on the phone several weeks before they met in person. Shania admitted that she didn't know he was a famous record producer. They became great friends over the telephone. They first met face to face in Nashville during Mercury's Fan Fair show in 1993.

Shania's next album was "The Woman In Me". Shania and Mutt wrote or co-wrote every song on this album. Later, this album became the best selling country album of all time. So far, this album has sold more than 15,000,000 copies worldwide. The first single off of this album was "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" This song debuted at 33 on the Record's Country Chart. Next, "Any Man Of Mine" was released. This was the song that kicked off Shania's career. This song made her what she is today. It is the impact song of the album. The video for this song was shot at John and Bo Derek's ranch in California. The other singles that came off of this album are: Home Ain't Where His Heart Is (Anymore), (If You're Not In It For Love) I'm Outta Here!, The Woman In Me, You Win My Love, No One Needs To Know, and God Bless The Child. All of these songs have videos too. The song "No One Needs To Know" was also featured on the soundtrack to the blockbuster movie Twister. Shania donated the proceeds from her God Bless The Child single to the Second Harvest charity to help feed hungry children.

Later that year, Shania and Mutt married in December. By this time, the album "The Woman In Me" was completed. During the following year, Shania and Mutt traveled across the United States, England, Canada, Italy, Spain, and the Caribbean. This is when they began working on Shania's latest album "Come On Over". Come On Over was released during October of 1997. Shania introduced this album with the single "Love Gets Me Every Time". The biggest mover off of Shania's "Come On Over" album would have to be "You're Still The One". This song was a big success not only on country radio stations but pop radio stations. This song introduced her to the mainstream audience and therefore, she gained a whole new audience and generation of listeners. Shania has currently released 10 songs off of her Come On Over album. These songs are: Love Gets Me Every Time, Don't Be Stupid(You Know I Love You), You're Still The One, Honey I'm Home, From This Moment On, That Don't Impress Me Much, You've Got A Way, Man! I Feel Like A Woman!, Come On Over, and Rock This Country!

With the success of Shania's Come On Over album, came her long awaited World Tour. Shania graced the globe with exciting live performances during her 1998-2000 World Tour. Shania covered all the major cities in Canada and the United States. Shania also toured in Australia and Europe. Shania's sell-out concerts are said to have been very energetic and exciting. Many people agree that Shania is a great live performer who has no studio magic behind her. She definately proved a lot of the critics wrong by going on tour! Shania also donated half the proceeds from each of her concerts to help support the Second Harvest charity to help feed hungry children.

During Shania's many years of being an entertainer, she has won a countless amount of awards. She earned Billboard's Top Country Album Artist in 1996. Some of her other awards are: Best Country Album from the Academy of Country Music, Album of the Year from the Canadian Country Music Awards, Favorite New Country Artist or Favorite Female Country Artist from the American Music Awards, Blockbuster Entertainment Awards, Canada's JUNO Awards, World Music Awards, and the list goes on and on. Shania has also been profiled in magazines such as: Time, Newsweek, Esquire, Interview, Entertainment Weekly, People, Rolling Stone, and many more. Shania also earned the cover for many of these magazines such as Rolling Stone, Glamour, Cosmopolitan, RedBook, FHM, and People. The list for magazine covers goes on and on also.

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