In the late 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, Shania Twain was at the peak of her game. The country music star had the world at her feet with 75 million records sold globally, five Grammy Awards under her belt, and more smashes hidden beneath her leopard-print cape.
However, an infidelity scandal involving her then-husband Robert John Lange and her best friend and a mysterious sickness that left her voiceless would soon disrupt her world. Let’s take a look back at her very juicy personal life…
Did Shania Twain Battle Lyme Disease?
In 2010, Lyme disease was identified as the singer’s condition. Twain disclosed that she got the bacterial infection from a tick bite while riding a horse in Virginia in 2003.
The singer was in the middle of her Up! Tour at the time, but the illness’s symptoms were immediately apparent. She experienced dizziness and frequently came dangerously close to falling off the stage. She also nearly lost her vocal range.
Below is a tweet about Shania Twain opening up about contracting Lyme disease and the stress this had on her voice and singing career. You can see below:
'There was a point where I thought I'd have to accept that I'd never be able to sing again.'
Shania Twain opens up about contracting Lyme disease and the stress this had on her voice and her singing career.
Watch➡️ https://t.co/uhvdBHHe6b pic.twitter.com/aFVOMjDpCL
— Loose Women (@loosewomen) August 17, 2020
“It took years to get to the bottom of what was affecting my voice,” she recently shared on UK daytime show Loose Women. “I would say probably a good seven years before a doctor found out that it was nerve damage to my vocal cords directly caused by Lyme disease.
“Our voice is such a huge part of our self-expression, and for a vocalist, a singer, obviously… it’s devastating in so many ways.”
How Did Shania Twain Lose Her Voice?
Twain’s vocal chord issues worsened as her health declined, and she eventually lost her voice. She spent a total of 15 years away from music as a result of being forced to stop playing.
Twain assumed her symptoms were weariness because she had recently returned from tour and was a new mother; yet, they persisted despite her lack of a diagnosis of Lyme disease. “No voice doctor could explain,” she said in March on Variety’s podcast The Big Ticket. “They were like, ‘It’s probably psychological.’ I didn’t buy it, and I was sure it was physiological.
“I couldn’t call out for the dog. I wasn’t heard very well on the phone. I couldn’t speak in loud environments.”
She received a Lyme disease diagnosis seven years later. Twain has since had many throat surgeries to repair the damage, and during those procedures, she was warned that she might lose her singing voice. However, the agony was too severe to postpone surgery. Thankfully, her operations went smoothly, and she can now perform again.
“What they do is they put little Gore-Tex braces on either side of your larynx to make up for the weakness of the nerves,” Twain explained on the podcast. “And it worked. When I’m laughing now, I’m the loudest one in the room.”
When her voice returned in 2012, the star made up for a lost time. Twain began her two-year Shania: Still The One residency in Las Vegas, performing 105 shows in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. She then embarked on her Rock This Country Tour in 2015, which was a nationwide success. You can see Clare Crawley Marries Ryan Dawkins from The Bachelorette.
What Is Shania Twain Doing Now?
Twain’s first album in 15 years, Now, her fifth studio album, was released in 2017. She drew inspiration from her heartache for the album, albeit several of the songs she created weren’t included since the lyrics, in her opinion, were loaded with obscenity.
“If I’m furious. And, if I’m writing, that word will be in every line,” she said, while promoting the album at the time. “There was one song I wrote about my cheating friend and there was a lot of f–ks in there. I hated her, so that’s the best word to use when you hate somebody.”
Twain then kicked off her second Las Vegas residency, Let’s Go!, in December 2019. She was scheduled to perform at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino up until December 2020 but was forced to postpone her tour in March 2020 due to the global pandemic.
View this post on Instagram
Twain’s not complaining, however, as she made the most of the lockdown with Frédéric at their home in Switzerland. You can also read Scarlett Johansson’s Comment On Ex-Husband Ryan Reynolds A ‘He Is A Good Guy’
“Lucky that I love spending time with this one,” she captioned a cosy photo of them. “Tag your quarantine partner at home or online that’s keeping you [happy emoji].”
A new Netflix documentary titled Not Just A Girl about Twain’s life and work will also be available in July 2022. Twain announced the release of Queen of Me, her sixth studio album, on October 31. On February 3, the new album will be released, and the singer will go on a 49-date global tour.
