Shania Twain sat down with Canadian magazine Maclean’s on earlier this month for a candid interview about her latest (and last!) tour kicking off in June and her decades-long career.
Shania Twain is getting ready to wrap up an astounding live performance career. She is still making new music and recording, however she has entered a new, mature stage of her life.
Along with preparing for her last tour, she is speaking up in support of her fellow female artists.
In a recent Q&A session with Canada’s Maclean’s magazine , Twain opened up about everything from “bro-country” to Taylor Swift, praising women in music as “risk-takers” full of courage.
During the interview, Twain talked about how she inspired a whole new generation of female country artists to be more daring in their music.
“Balance is important,” says Twain when asked to weigh in on the current state of country radio, which seems to be overwhelmed by that bro-country sound and songs that still refer to women as “girls” in the lyrics.
“Whenever it goes too far in one direction, it just gets boring. It’s very dominated by men right now … We don’t have enough women,” she says.
“Maybe it’s more romance that country is missing right now. Women have a lot to say but it takes a lot of courage to say it. Women are the greater risk-takers. When they step out of what’s expected in this genre, they are really stepping in the line of fire.”
“When I was first coming out with songs, it could have gone either way. It was never going to be anywhere in the middle. There were definitely people criticizing what I was doing.”
Shania Twain has no regrets.
“Anybody who makes it to the top knows what it’s like,” Twain reveals when asked if she sees many similarities between her and Taylor Swift’s musical journeys.
“I sometimes relive it when I see it again. I feel for that person, I really do. [Thinking that] ‘I hope they are being strong right now and they have good support.’ I hope they aren’t taking it too personally. I have compassion for them.”
At the end of the day, Twain says the most important thing is to have a strong sense of self and to be confident in who you are.
“It’s not about being tough or writing lyrics about being strong or sassy,” she insists.
“It is deeper than that. I think it’s about true self-awareness and having a real vision of where you belong in society. It’s not about conveying a superficial, ultra-beautiful, boss-warrior. We can go deeper than that.”