The Comeback Kid: Shania Twain Rebounds (original) (raw)

She laughs. “I just think it's not worth it. Age brings perspective,” she adds. “Every day I learn something new. And I plan on doing that till the day I die."

Born Eilleen Regina Edwards and raised in Ontario, Canada, Twain endured a hardscrabble childhood. Her father abandoned the family early, and after her mother, Sharon, married Jerry Twain, there wasn't always enough money for heat or proper meals. The family also experienced domestic violence. At age 4, Eilleen saw her stepfather knock her mom unconscious against a toilet seat and try to drown her. “That was the beginning of the norm for the rest of my childhood,” she says now. “I don't know how we survived it."

Eilleen had a pretty singing voice, but she was petrified to perform in front of crowds. Still, her mother grabbed on to the child's talent like a lifeline, getting her up in the middle of the night to sing in bars. By age 8, Eilleen was a country-folk singer; at 17, she was touring with a rock band. In 1987, Sharon and Jerry were killed in a car crash, and 22-year-old Eilleen took charge of her three younger siblings. When she was discovered by a Nashville attorney who set her up with a record contract, “Eilleen” became “Shania,” to reflect her link to the Ojibwa tribe through her stepfather.

For entertainment news, advice and more, get AARP’s monthly Lifestyle newsletter.

How to Stage a Comeback

It hurts to lose ground, yet it's rarely too late to recover

1. Mourn, but move on.

Feeling discouraged is human, notes resilience researcher Angela Duckworth. With time, that emotion can inspire you to take action.

2. Reset expectations.

After a layoff, consider changing industries, suggests crisis-management expert Michael Sitrick. Night school could bridge the gap.

3. Go small or go home.

Focus on what Duckworth calls subgoals — like reaching out to one contact on LinkedIn. Accumulating these is how big progress is made.

4. The best policy

"Never lie; don't embellish,” Sitrick advises. If you messed up, admit it and state how you've changed. That's how you earn respect.

5. Show the naysayers!

"Feeling like an underdog can be highly motivating,” says Duckworth, who wrote the best-selling book Grit to prove a doubter wrong.

Her first country tour, in early 1993, was with a young Toby Keith, who remembers both Twain's generosity and her seriousness of purpose when it came to rehearsals. “She wouldn't compromise,” he says.

Her first album failed to yield a major hit. But Mutt Lange, the producer of AC/DC and Def Leppard, heard something in her voice, and when he offered to cowrite and produce her next album, The Woman in Me, Twain jumped at the chance, crafting songs with hooky melodies and clever wordplay. Her follow-up album, 1997's Come On Over, also produced by Lange, helped redefine modern country. The two married in 1993, and Eja, their only child, was born in 2001.

Twain was on tour in 2003 when her voice first began to falter. The diagnosis was dysphonia — a neurological disorder of the larynx — though the cause was unknown. Thinking her career might be over, she devoted herself to raising Eja in the couple's Swiss château.

But things at home kept getting tenser, and in early 2008 she confided in the couple's personal assistant, Marie-Anne Thiébaud, whom she considered a dear friend. Don't worry, Thiébaud assured her; it was “absurd” to think that Lange was unfaithful.

Then Lange told Twain that their marriage was over — and Thiébaud's husband, Fred, told her why: Mutt was involved with Marie-Anne. Devastated, Twain leaned on Fred for understanding, and over time they forged a deep friendship that turned into love. The two became engaged in 2010 (to end up together is “twisted, but so beautifully twisted,” she says) and married in 2011.

Today, Twain seems fully recovered from her heartache — and also, finally, from the problems with her voice. She consulted with many physicians over the years, and more than one suggested that the root cause of her problem was emotional stress. She investigated relaxation techniques, grief therapies and self-help books; eventually, she was able to return to performing, though she had to devote a great deal of time to vocal warm-ups.