Shania Twain‘s long-awaited Queen of Me album is out! The record, which includes both “Waking Up Dreaming” and “Giddy Up!,” is Twain’s first set of new music since Now was released in 2017.
Twain co-wrote all 12 tracks on Queen of Me, and also served as a co-producer on the project, along with Tyler Joseph, Adam Messinger, Mark Ralph and David Stewart. The Canadian shared her excitement about her new record on social media.
“I wrote it from a place of feeling good within myself – I wanted music that got me dancing and lifted my spirits!” Twain says. “I think the fact that I recorded it with so many good hearted people only amplified that! I hope the album empowers you to feel good in your own skin!”
I wrote it from a place of feeling good within myself – I wanted music that got me dancing and lifted my spirits! I think the fact that I recorded it with so many good hearted people only amplified that! I hope the album empowers you to feel good in your own skin! Love Shania x
— Shania Twain 💎💎💎 (@ShaniaTwain) February 3, 2023
With Queen of Me, Twain became the flagship artist for Republic Nashville, a division of Republic Records.
“I couldn’t think of a better partner than Republic Nashville,” Twain says of her new musical venture. “I’m honored and excited to be the label’s first artist and lead the charge of this new and exciting chapter. In this respect, it feels like a new beginning all around, and I’m embracing it wholeheartedly.”
Twain’s pop-infused style of country music made her a household name in the ’90s, with hits like “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?,” “Any Man of Mine,” “You Win My Love,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and more. Ironically, it was the opening line one of her own hits, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!” that inspired her current single,
“The saying ‘Let’s Go Girls!’ is such a wonderfully uplifting sentiment now, but it’s just something I said during the recording in the studio and I guess that’s the same for ‘Giddy Up!,’” the 57-year-old explains. “These lines come to me when I’m thinking about how to put a little ‘pep in my step.’ I want people to feel good when they hear the new album. I want to set a celebratory tone and ‘Giddy Up!’ is a way to call to the audience and say ‘Let’s get ready for some fun!’”
Queen of Me is especially significant for Twain, who once thought she would never sing again. Twain was diagnosed with vocal dysphonia in 2004, a product of Lyme disease. She later underwent two surgeries to repair the damage to her vocal cords.
“I had to have an operation that was very intense and it’s an open-throat operation, very different from a vocal cord operation,” Twain previously told Extra “And I had to have two of them, so that was really, really, really tough and I survived that, meaning emotionally I survived, and am just ready to keep going.”
Twain admits she wondered if she would ever sing again, an idea that was terrifying to her at the time.
“When you’re a singer and it’s your voice, it is just a terrible, terrible feeling,” Twain admitted. “It was a great, great loss, so I had to come to terms with losing the voice that I had and rediscovering my new one. It’s been a long, a really rewarding, journey.”
“What I’ve learned in the interim through therapy is how to manipulate my voice to get it to do what I want it to do or at least close enough,” she added. “I don’t want to give up, so you just gotta be willing and give in to change and you have to accept that.”
Twain will embark on her The Queen of Me Tour on April 28 in Spokane, Washington, and perform all over North American and Europe, before wrapping up on November 15 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kelsea Ballerini, Lindsay Ell, Hailey Whitters, Breland, Robyn Ottolini, Priscilla Block, Mickey Guyton, Lily Rose, Talk, and Tenille Townes will take turns serving as Twain’s opening act. Purchase, download or steram Queen of Me and find tour dates at ShaniaTwain.com.