You can definitely call the current arc in Shania Twain’s career a comeback. The five-time Grammy winner has been on an ascendency since recovering from voice-impacting health problems, beginning with her move to Republic Records and the release of her 2023 album Queen of Me. The “Shaniassance” continued with a triumphant tour and climaxed this summer with her critically acclaimed appearance at England’s Glastonbury Festival.
She received a lot of press for her hosting gig at the People’s Choice Country Awards in October as well. A blonde Twain was lowered to the stage seated within an open heart and then welcomed the audience to the show, resplendent in a white cowgirl fringe outfit she had exchanged for the denim dress bedazzled with blue crystals that she wore on the red carpet, but maintaining the retro hairstyle that made her resemble Nancy Sinatra at a distance.
It was her last major public appearance before beginning the final rounds of her Planet Hollywood residency, Come On Over. It’s not her last rodeo, though, and probably not her last residency. Twain plans to spend time in the recording studio after Come On Over concludes, and looks to be influenced by a surplus of positive energy accumulated during the past two years.
Twain has transcended being a country or a pop performer. Her shows are a celebration of her music, and Twain effortlessly leads her audiences into a collective state of ecstasy. She arrived for Glastonbury’s prestigious Legends slot on the last Sunday afternoon in June trailed by drag queens bearing hobby horses to open with “That Don’t Impress Me Much.”
She wore a pink ruffled cape likely visible from the back of the field. Pink cowboy hats and leopard-skin patterns were abundant among audience members who helped make Queen of Me No. 1 in the U.K., and participated in flash mob dances to “That Don’t Impress Me Much.” Even the line of security guards protecting the stage got in on the act.
Twain soaks up love and admiration and delivers it right back to her fans. If the endorphins produced by that bond didn’t assist her on the road to recovery from Lyme disease and dysphonia, they surely didn’t hurt. The Shania Twain that appeared at the People’s Choice Country Awards seemed like an altogether new person very much living in the moment.
The next mystery to solve is what her new music will sound like. Twain added the first two singles from Queen of Me—“Waking Up Dreaming” and “Giddy Up!”—to her previous Come On Over setlists. She could keep moving in the contemporary pop direction that characterizes those songs or move in the retro direction her Nancy Sinatra look hinted at.
It’s no mystery why Mattel honored Twain earlier this year with a Barbie 65th birthday tribute doll made in her image. Her likeness was outfitted in a black corset dress and top hat inspired by her iconic look in the video for “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” The Barbie did impress her much.
Planet Hollywood. ticketmaster.com
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