6 reasons why Shania Twain is the REAL Queen of Pop
The 2017 line up for Radio 2 Live In Hyde Park 2017 is looking like the biggest and best yet, with the likes of Take That, Blondie, Stereophonics, Rick Astley and James Blunt all on the bill for the "festival in a day" bonanza on Sunday 10th September.
And just when you thought it couldn't get any better, there's the promise of a rare UK appearance from the country queen, living legend and all round pop powerhouse that is Shania Twain. It got us thinking about all the ways in which Shania rocks our world...and everyone else's.
1. She knows how to keep things majorly exclusive
The mighty Shania knows how to make a date count - her special appearance at Radio 2 Live in Hyde Park will not only be her ONLY UK performance in 2017, but it will also be her only UK show for 13 years. 13 years!
“I can’t wait," she told the Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ. "It’s been a long time. I’m really excited about it. I’ll play a couple of new songs but I’ll stick primarily to the hits.”
Don't worry if you haven't got tickets for the festival itself, because the whole thing will be streamed online via the , then available to watch again.
Just prepare to be blown away by the comeback queen herself, Shania Twain 2.0.
2. Her new album is going to be AMAZING
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Shania is due to release her first album for a staggering 15 years, the aptly and snappily named Now, at the end of September. That means we won't have had the chance to hear the record in full before our country pop empress hits the Hyde Park stage, so we're hoping there might just be a few sneak previews in store.
We're already loving her perky, victorious single Life's About To Get Good, and we can't wait to sing along gustily to every word.
3. She's the ultimate survivor
Our leopard print loving heroine is an inspiring example of true triumph over adversity.
After the release of her last LP, 2002's astronomically successful Up!, Shania found out that she was suffering from a vocal cord disorder called dysphonia, which causes hoarseness and trouble speaking. Her condition is thought to have been triggered by Lyme disease, an infection caused by a bacteria spread through ticks. But was Shania going to let this ruin her career? No! She went through extensive therapy to get her voice back to its glorious best.
4. It's the 20th anniversary of her iconic album Come On Over
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2017 marks the 20th anniversary of Shania's album Come On Over, and it's a handy opportunity to remind ourselves just how insanely amazing that record both was and is.
The uptempo country pop album not only gave us massive, evergreen hits - in the form of tracks such as Man! I Feel Like A Woman and That Don't Impress Me Much - but it smashed pretty much every record going. Come On Over became the biggest-selling studio album of ALL TIME by a female artist, the biggest-selling country music album ever, and one of the biggest-selling albums in history full stop. To date, it has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide. Worth raising a glass for, we'd say.
5. She's an inspiration to other artists
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Shania has been an inspiration to everyone from Meghan Trainor to Britney Spears (for whom she wrote Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know.) By showing how massively popular country pop crossover hits could be, she was doing the Taylor Swift thing before Taylor Swift even arrived.
"Shania showed the entire music industry that there were new options for where you could take your career in country music, how widely you could expand it," Taylor told Billboard. "She was tough and she was sensitive. She was elegant, edgy and bold. Shania became everyone’s favorite woman because she represented how versatile a woman can be."
LA sister trio Haim have expressed their love for Shania by covering some of her biggest hits, including a lush, chilled version of That Don't Impress Me Much for Australian radio station Triple J that pretty much set the internet alight. ""We absolutely love Shania Twain. We've always loved her and worship her," told the radio host. "She's just the best."
6. She's just generally a VERY big deal
She ranks with the likes of Adele, Whitney Houston or Celine Dion, and Shania might just pip them to be the most successful female music artist of all time.
She’s a five time Grammy winner and has sold more than 90 million albums. Our girl is the best-selling female artist in country music history and the ONLY female artist to ever have three consecutive albums certified as Diamond sellers. We reckon she can rest her cowboy boots pretty comfortably on that rhinestone encrusted throne...
