Shania Twain Believed Her Singing Career Was Over: ‘I Was Convinced’

Despite being one of the most recognizable names in all of music, there was a point that Shania Twain fully believed her singing career was over.

For years, she was unable to project her voice, which doctors assumed was due to Lyme disease. Twain contracted the disease from a tick bite in 2004. Her vocal problems would eventually lead to a 15-year hiatus and that longstanding belief that she would never be on stage again.

During a visit to the Drew Barrymore Show on Oct. 16, Twain opened up about coming to terms with what could have been her new reality.

"When I really was convinced by every medical professional, saying, 'We don't know what's wrong with you, so we can't fix it. We can't determine what's wrong with you. Why you can't scream and yell and control your voice, we don't know,'" she recalls. "Then, I did relax into it."

"I wasn't complacent," she continues, "I wasn't giving up. I was — in fact — I was starting over with new possibilities. It was a real liberation."

The "Giddy Up" singer got to a place where she realized she couldn't do anything about her vocal situation, so she began exploring other avenues in the music industry.

"I think that allowed me to appreciate the songwriting more than ever," she shares. "I didn't have to be the singer anymore. I didn't have to be in the spotlight anymore. I can write for other people to be in the spotlight."

By allowing herself to go to the worst case scenario, Twain was released from a lot of stress regarding the unknown.

"This is the thing, you don't know what's next. You don't know what's around the corner, you don't know that. I think it's very important for me to live in that reality," she confesses.

"I didn't know that I was ever gonna get my voice back again. I really didn't know that yet. So, okay, I grieved it and then, you know, science opened a door and said we do know what's wrong with you and you can fix it," she adds.

Twain underwent open-throat surgery in 2018 and slowly regained her vocal strength.

Fast forward to 2023 and the country veteran has been touring on her Queen of Me Tour, promoting her latest album of the same name, and is planning a return to Las Vegas for another residency in 2024.