When Shania Twain first burst on the scene
in the mid-1990’s few could have expected any long term impact, but her
version of ‘New Country’ changed things, perhaps not the world, but by
bringing country music to mainstream audiences Twain redefined the
landscape.
Like many ground breaking performers, Twain was
reviled in her early days. Lambasted by the country elite and ignored
by traditional fans, Twain persisted and brought pop and country
audiences together in ways no one had previously imagined possible.
Like all revolutions though, Twain’s time eventually passed. Her career
started to fizzle alongside her production, causing her to fade into
memory. Now, nearly a decade after her last album, Twain has returned
though not in the venue most people would have expected, as a TV host.
While some would look upon that as a sad statement , a poor resolution
to a legendary career, for Twain it is about the only venue for
expressing herself after losing her singing voice, a good fifteen years
after everyone else had hoped it would vanish.
“I've only just discovered what's wrong. Next
comes rehabilitation, which will take a long time. Physical
rehabilitation, voice therapy, learning how to breathe again and the
singing will come. During the course of my divorce, I dug a big hole
and stopped growing and searching and had given up,” Twain told E!
“I realized I had to climb back out. You can only help yourself.
Others can support you. Just asking myself what I was going to do
helped make a place for optimism. You start to isolate yourself in your
own misery Suffering in silence is no way to live.”
“She hasn’t had
an album of new music since 2002 and in pop that is a lifetime. Maybe
if she made the kind of music that engaged a younger generation looking
for a retro vibe it would be relevant, but that isn’t the case. If
Iggy Pop or Lou Reed lost their voices it would be a bit of a sad day,
but with Twain it kind doesn’t really matter. Not to be mean or
anything but the only person it really affects is her.”
Twain has not announced any plans to record a new album anytime soon.
“I do hope though that she has some people who
care, particularly her doctors. It would be a little sad if they didn’t
care but there’s a good chance that they aren’t really fans of her
music, unless they are middle-aged women which I guess is possible,”
continued Chambers. “I do have to wonder how serious this condition
really is though, considering she’s there chatting away on her talk
show. If this is some kind of ploy to bring attention back to her
singing career it’s probably not going to go over all that well. Her
fans know when they are being manipulated.”