In 2008, Shania Twain experienced what millions of people will painfully experience at some point in their lives: She found out about her then-husband Matt Lange’s infidelity. Shaken by this, she planned a divorce. At that exact moment, Prince picked up the phone, called Twain and told her that this was the perfect time to record an album like Rumors together.
Fleetwood Mac’s divorce record, which became one of the greatest successes in rock history, basically deals with the band’s complete love misfortune: Mick Fleetwood had separated from his wife Jenny, Lindsey Buckingham from Stevie Nicks – and John and Christine McVie also broke up Relationship.
The world, of course, thirsts for adversity. But things weren’t so easy for Shania Twain back then. “We spoke on the phone and he said, ‘Shania, why don’t you come to Paisley Park? I want to do the next Rumors album with you,'” said singer Zane Lowe of Apple Music.
But Twain didn’t feel ready: “When Prince said that to me, I was like, oh man, I’m not even divorced. I just thought I was dumped, but I’m obviously not divorced yet. I thought to myself, that’s already a form of irony what you’re suggesting. Right? And I’m such a huge Prince fan.”
In addition, as Twain said in the interview, she was struggling with Lyme disease, which robbed her of a lot of vocal power at the time. “I was still so far from finding my voice,” said the 57-year-old.
Prince demanded curse-free work
The communication between Twain and Prince didn’t really work either. During the phone call, one or the other curse slipped from the singer, which is said to have encouraged Prince to confide in her during the phone call that any form of scolding and scolding is strictly prohibited in Paisley Park.
Twain: So that was another blow. I said, ‘Oh no, I love you so much, but I don’t think I could write and record an album without cussing in between! What will you do to me if I curse? Maybe I should have stood in a corner or something. I wasn’t sure. I don’t think I was ready for what all of this would have meant for me. I didn’t give it up completely or anything, but then he died.”
Shania Twain is currently on a promotional tour for her new album, Queen of Me, which is due out on Friday (February 3). It is also a comeback in terms of health, because the musician had a very serious course of the disease after a corona infection. But new songs like “Giddy Upo” show that Twain is back at the height of her art.