What happened to Shania Twain?

Shania Twain was at the top of her game in the late '90s and early noughties. 

With 75 million albums sold worldwide, five Grammy Awards on her mantle, and numerous hits under her leopard-print cape, the country music singer had the world at her feet. 

But a cheating scandal involving her then-husband Robert John Lange and best friend would soon rock her world, as did a mysterious illness that left her with no singing voice. 

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So what exactly happened to country music's best-selling female artist of all time, and why did she take a 15-year hiatus from music?

As the star prepares to release her sixth studio album on February 3, let's take a look back at her very juicy personal life… 

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How old is Shania Twain now?

The Canadian singer was born on August 28, 1965, making her 55 years old.

Did Shania Twain battle Lyme disease?

The singer was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2010. 

Twain revealed that she had contracted the bacterial infection after being bitten by a tick while horseback riding in Virginia in 2003.

She was in the middle of her Up! Tour at the time but the effects of the disease were immediate — the singer suffered dizzy spells and almost fell off the stage every night, and she also almost lost her ability to sing.

"It took years to get to the bottom of what was affecting my voice," she recently shared on UK daytime show Loose Women. "I would say probably a good seven years before a doctor was able to find out that it was nerve damage to my vocal cords directly caused by Lyme disease.

"Our voice is such a huge part of our self-expression, and for a vocalist, a singer, obviously... it's devastating in so many ways."

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How did Shania Twain lose her voice?

As her health deteriorated, Twain developed problems with her vocal cords and eventually lost her voice. She was forced to take a break from performing, taking a total of 15 years away from music.

Not yet diagnosed with Lyme disease, Twain thought it was just fatigue because she had just come off tour and was a new mum, but her ailments continued.

"No voice doctor could explain," she said in March on Variety's podcast The Big Ticket. "They were like, 'It's probably psychological.' I didn't buy it, and I was sure it was a physiological thing.

"I couldn't call out for the dog. I wasn't heard very well on the phone. I couldn't speak in loud environments."

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Seven years later, she was diagnosed with Lyme disease. Twain has since undergone multiple throat surgeries to correct the damage and, in the process, was told she was in danger of losing her singing voice. But the pain was too debilitating to forgo surgery. Thankfully, her surgeries went well and she's able to perform again.

"What they do is they put little Gore-Tex braces on either side of your larynx to make up for the weakness of the nerves," Twain explained on the podcast. "And it worked. When I'm laughing now, I'm the loudest one in the room."

When her voice returned in 2012, the star made up for lost time. Twain began her two-year Shania: Still The One residency in Las Vegas, performing 105 shows in The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. She then embarked on her Rock This Country Tour in 2015, which was a nationwide success.

What happened between Shania Twain and husband Robert John 'Mutt' Lange?

Twain married her music partner, Robert John 'Mutt' Lange, in 1993.

The South African record producer and songwriter was behind some of Twain's biggest hits, including 'You're Still the One', 'From This Moment On' and 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman!'

In 2000, the couple settled down in the Swiss town of Corseaux, overlooking Lake Geneva, and the following year they welcomed their only child, a son named Eja, now 19.

However, in 2008, their 14-year marriage came to an abrupt end when it was revealed Lange had an affair with Twain's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud.

The couple had hired Thiébaud to look after their 46-room Swiss chateau, but Twain considered her more than just a personal assistant — Marie-Anne was her best friend and confidant. They were the same age and had similar interests, and the women bonded further when they both fell pregnant at the same time.  

"For the first week after finding out about the affair, I was ready to die — to go to bed forever and never wake up. Or to hurt someone," Twain wrote in her 2011 memoir, From This Moment On.

"I was ready to do something desperate, but in reality, there was nothing to do but to suffer through it... I was disgusted that another woman's lust for a lifestyle upgrade was worth the devastation of my family."

Twain and Lange, now 71, finalised their divorce in 2010, two years after the scandal. 

In Twain's new Netflix documentary Not Just A Girl, set to be released on July 26, 2022, Twain reflected on the affair between Lange and Thiébaud.

"It was similarly intense to losing my parents," the singer, 56, said in a trailer.

"I thought I had lost my voice forever. I thought that was it."

Are Robert John 'Mutt' Lange and Marie-Anne Thiébaud still together?

According to reports, Lange, now 73, and Marie-Anne are still together and living in the same Swiss town as Twain and her current husband.

Who is Shania Twain's husband now?

Twain is now married to Swiss businessman Frédéric Thiébaud, who is five years her junior.

In a strange twist, he was the husband of Marie-Anne Thiébaud, the same woman who Lange cheated with.

It was Frédéric — who shares a daughter Johanna, now 20, with Marie-Anne — that found evidence pertaining to the affair and broke the shocking news to Twain.

"He had the classic evidence in the form of phone bills, hotel information, and receipts, and the memory of a garter belt and lingerie he saw packed in her luggage [when] she was meant to be going away for time 'alone,'" she wrote in her memoir.

As Lange and Marie-Anne left them to start a new life together, Frédéric and Twain were left to pick up the pieces. The pair bonded over their shared pain and as a result fell in love. 

"It's twisted. But so beautifully twisted," Twain — who battled depression at the time — told AARP The Magazine in January. "There were days I didn't really care if tomorrow came... Survival is everything. I was in quicksand. I panicked, like everybody does, but I didn't surrender. I found a way out."

They publicly announced their engagement in December 2010 and married on New Year's Day in 2011, exchanging vows in a sunset beach ceremony in Puerto Rico.

"[He] has been the most constant companion and support for both [my son] Eja and I. And having gone through the suffering of his family splitting apart at the same time and under the same extreme circumstances, he understands me better than anyone," Twain wrote on her website before their wedding.

"We leaned on one another through the ups and downs, taking turns holding each other up," she added. "We've become stronger and closer through it all, as have our children, Eja and Johanna."

What is Shania Twain doing now?

In 2017, Twain released her fifth studio album Now – her first offering in 15 years. She used her heartbreak as inspiration for the album, although some songs she wrote didn't make the final cut because she said the lyrics were laced with profanity.

"If I'm really angry, I'll say 'f--k' a lot. And, if I'm writing, that word will be in every line," she said, while promoting the album at the time. "There was one song I wrote about my cheating friend and there was a lot of f--ks in there. I hated her, so that's the best word to use when you hate somebody."

Twain then kicked off her second Las Vegas residency, Let's Go!, in December 2019. She was scheduled to perform at the Zappos Theater at Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino up until December 2020 but was forced to postpone her tour in March 2020 due to the global pandemic.

Twain's not complaining, however, as she made the most of the lockdown with Frédéric at their home in Switzerland. 

"Lucky that I love spending time with this one," she captioned a cosy photo of them. "Tag your quarantine partner at home or online that's keeping you [happy emoji]."

Twain is also the subject of a new Netflix documentary about her life and career, released in July 2022, titled Not Just A Girl.

On October 31, Twain revealed she would be releasing her sixth studio album Queen of Me. The new offering drops on February 3, and the singer will also hit the road with 49 world tour dates announced.

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Title: What happened to Shania Twain?
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/shania-twain-what-happened-why-did-she-quit-singing-partner-swap-relationship-history-explainer/4d897dbb-276d-4866-8242-f83bc3a0e8d0
Published Date: Mon, 31 Oct 2022 01:10:00 GMT