Winning awards isn't new to country superstar Shania Twain. Neither is poverty, which is now a distant memory for the biggest-selling female country singer in the world.
At yesterday's Order of Canada ceremony, Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean noted that Twain has come a long way in a short period of time.
As a young country girl growing up dirt-poor in Timmins, Twain, like her four brothers and sisters, often went hungry. Her adopted father was a foreman for a reforestation crew and money was tight. She began playing guitar and performing country music when she was eight years old and later fronted bands during her teen years.
In 1986, when she was barely 21, Twain's parents were killed in a car accident, leaving Shania in charge of her three younger siblings.
To support her family, she took a job singing at the Deerhurst Inn in Huntsville. By 1993, she was able to record her debut album, Shania Twain. The album garnered the attention of producer John "Mutt" Lange, who had made The Cars, Def Leppard international stars. The pair married months later.
Twain's second album, The Woman in Me, was released in 1995. With four No. 1 singles and two Top-10 singles in the U.S., the album quickly became the best-selling country album by a female artist of all time.
Her third album, 1997's Come On Over, debuted at No. 1. She's sold 65 million records and has won five Grammys, the Country Music Association Entertainer of the Year, the Academy of Country Music, the Billboard Music Award for Female Artist of the Year, the American Music Awards for Favourite Female Pop/Rock Artists and Country Music Artist and many Junos.
denis.armstrong@ott.sunpub.com
