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Shania Twain reveals the challenges of motherhood at the height of her fame | Memory Box
Jul 24, 2026
Country music icon Shania Twain opens her memory box and shares the stories behind her legendary career. From her most iconic fashion moments and the inspiration behind her biggest music videos to unforgettable memories that changed her life, nothing is off limits. Plus, Shania reveals the advice she gave to Taylor Swift and Sabrina Carpenter, and reflects on the moments that made her one of the best-selling artists of all time. Watch until the end for exclusive behind-the-scenes stories, career-defining memories, and never-before-heard insights from the Queen of Country Pop. Her new album 'Little Miss Twain' is out now! CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction 0:40 Shania's first gig 01:57 Early days of fame 03:07 Connection to her fans 03:52 Singing with iconic women 04:37 Inspiration from Carole King 05:17 Meeting Mariah Carey 05:58 Sabrina Carpenter & Taylor Swift 07:20 Her iconic leopard outfit 08:00 Feeling liberated in music videos 09:10 Fashion regrets 10:16 New album #shaniatwain #manifeellikeawoman #thatdontimpressmemuch SUBSCRIBE to Heart for more content like this http://www.youtube.com/thisisheart/ LISTEN to Heart on Global Player https://app.af.globalplayer.com/Br0x/HeartLive/ or search 'Global Player' in your app store FOLLOW our socials Website: http://www.heart.co.uk/ Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/thisisheart/ TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@thisisheart/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thisisheartofficial/
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0:00
Some of the younger girls in the industry, you know, Sabrina Carpenter being one and Taylor Swift as well
0:06
Like we always end up talking about the difficulty of balancing personal life and career
0:10
I didn't really enjoy that element of myself. I looked back at them and said, okay, should they really have been part of my like styling moment in a video
0:18
It is difficult as it is to be a career woman who then wants a child
0:23
Maybe this photo is hard to explain, but it is the divas live
0:26
Fashion does that for you. It helps you to liberate expression. Hi, I'm Shania Twain
0:33
Welcome to Memory Books with Heart. Yeah, the Maple Leaf Hotel
0:44
So this was a typical small town Timmons bar where once they announced last call
0:50
you can load up your table with drinks and then stay and drink them till you're done
0:56
and then I would be the entertainment from that point on. So those were my first training years as to how to be a performer
1:04
And I have not done a bar like that since I got my recording contract, in fact
1:14
And my recording contract came about only in my late 20s. So all of my life from the age of 8 years old
1:21
till I got my recording contract was singing in little bars like that
1:26
You know, a big bar would have been 200 people. 400 people would have been
1:34
that was the big time, that was the big time bar. But a little bar like Maple Leaf Hotel
1:41
I have not done in many, many years. You know, in a bar like Maple Leaf Hotel
1:47
you know, this is the stage and everybody's sitting right at your feet, basically, the tables
1:55
So it's very, very intimate. What was going through your mind in this moment
2:02
This moment was... I felt like a winner. I won. This was really early days till I was just starting to get recognized
2:13
for my success as a recording artist with my own songs, which was really, that meant everything, that I would be recording and performing my own original music
2:27
So this was the beginning of that, you know, that early feelings of
2:33
oh, wow, this is really starting to happen, you know, one in each hand
2:37
You know, I felt that I was being recognized and I was being respected for the work
2:42
And I didn't just start my career when I got signed. I started my career at eight years old on these stages
2:47
and so by the time you you know my first top 10 record I was 30 years old and this I would have been already here you know at least 30 if not older So I was feeling like whoa you know almost whew you know I think I going to be okay now
3:06
The fans that have been around since the very beginning of my recording career, they're still following me and still listening to the music
3:13
They're just loyal. Fanship, there's a loyalty to fanship. And I've never experienced that before
3:20
You know, as a cover singer in bars, I mean, they're there, you know, they're clapping
3:25
but they're not following you as a fan. They're not necessarily a fan. They might be a great audience
3:30
Once you start making your own records, you start making a connection with people
3:35
that you might be connected to for many, many years to come
3:40
And it's a really cool feeling. I wouldn't even have understood it yet at that moment
3:45
I think it wows me more every year, every project. can you explain this photo yeah
3:57
this photo is hard to explain but it is the divas live
4:03
this is the first time any a project like this had ever been done where
4:07
iconic artists across the genres were in one room in a performance evening
4:12
so it was quite an event aretha franklin celine dion glory estefan myself
4:20
who am I missing? I shouldn't miss anybody. Oh, Mariah Carey. You got a friend. In fact
4:27
Carole King wrote, you got a friend and we all did it together. That was the one song that we
4:32
did together as a group, which was really beautiful. There's a lot of things I learned
4:38
from all of these women. You know, Carole King, I didn't really get a chance to speak to her much
4:44
But as a songwriter, she was the ultimate storyteller, as good as it gets, writing lyrics to music that were real stories
4:57
And that is also what I've always loved about country music. But Carole King captured that, I guess, as I would say
5:02
I see her more as a folk songwriter. And then other people would record her songs, like Aretha Franklin, and then make them a big R&B hit
5:14
And Mariah Carey, I remember that day when I met her, she was nervous about getting a cold or a flu
5:25
So she was, you know, before there was ever, you know, distancing, it was like, you know, let's not shake hands, let's not kiss and hug
5:35
And she was wise, you know, I mean, those things you have to really be careful when you're touring
5:39
and you learn that it's a little bit isolating being an artist
5:46
You can't be as tactile as you'd like to be sometimes, I think
5:50
And there's just so many things. All of these women have stories that are incredible and experiences that I learned from I been lucky in having some nice you know one chats with some of the younger girls in the industry
6:07
you know, Sabrina Carpenter being one and Taylor Swift as well. It seems like we always end up talking about the difficulty
6:15
of balancing personal life and career and, you know, when to be a mother or when, you know, when to get married
6:21
Is there a right time? Is there a wrong time? and trying to navigate all of these desires that you have
6:27
and to fulfill all of the things you have in your plans
6:33
But then you add fame as well. That's a whole other factor that the average person doesn't have
6:41
So it is difficult as it is to be a career woman than wants a child maybe
6:46
So now there's just so many factors and layers. Same adds a lot of isolation to life
6:55
So these are the types of conversations that we have together. And just, you know, I am always happy to share my experiences and how I manage it or have managed it
7:08
Especially when my son was young and having a baby. So it takes a lot of planning
7:13
That's what I always say. You really have to plan. And then you have to keep planning and more planning
7:19
where did you get the inspiration for this look? Yeah, I love this look
7:25
Leopard print. This is my color. Videos give you this fantasy platform
7:30
to live out some of the things that like fashion. You know, that is a fashion moment
7:39
And it's also a favorite, like having a favorite color. You know, it's like, okay
7:43
is it probably not realistic to paint your whole room in the one color you love
7:47
and that everything in that room is all the same color, but it would be fun just for a minute
7:52
And that's kind of what videos allow you to do. You know, indulging in fashion period
7:56
because it allowed me to enjoy the silhouette of a woman, which I am a woman, and I have curves
8:08
and I enjoy, I didn't really enjoy that element of myself. I love to play sports
8:16
and I didn't want to be bouncing around, you know, the football field. So I was always strapping my chest down with, you know, tight bras and more than one
8:27
So when I started making videos, I just stepped into a whole new appreciation for being female
8:36
and wondered what I'd been waiting for. Why have I been strapping these down and why have I been so, you know, reluctant to just
8:47
celebrate being a woman in my own skin, being what I am just comfortable in my own skin
8:52
So videos did that and I remember some of the earlier videos I didn wear I went braless in the videos I wasn topless but I was braless and I just thought oh this is freedom it was very liberating and fashion does that for you it helps you to
9:06
liberate expression the looks that I've looked back on off and on over the years that I thought
9:16
oh you know and that's the ripped jeans because I'm thinking it's in one minute then it's out the
9:21
next minute then it's back in and then it's out it's a yes and then it's a no you know
9:25
the faded blue ripped jeans that I wore in Any Man of Mine carried on in my life for so long
9:33
Those are the teenage jeans that you should never throw out whether they're in style or not, right
9:38
So I looked back on them and said, okay, should they really have been part of my like styling moment in a video
9:43
But I wrote a song called Faded Blue Jeans in my new album, Little Miss Twain
9:48
And it's just all about that, how clothing holds memories. and you should always, I think, should always just keep one or two pieces
9:56
as you, you know, go through life because those pieces take you back and whether they're in fashion or not
10:03
So yes, I've had some that I'm like, oh boy. Yeah, maybe I should throw those out
10:09
Yes, that's them. Those are the ones. Those are the jeans. What is the inspiration for your next album? Oh
10:20
Oh, I just love this photo. My next music is all a reflection on my life pre-recording artist
10:35
And that is a long period of time from the age of eight all the way up to my late 20s
10:43
And this photo is me. I think I'm 10 in this photo and my little sister is eight
10:50
I'm starting to grow into my guitar here. You can see it's not giant for me, but when I was eight, it was really, really big for me
10:58
I could barely hold it. And the song, Little Miss Twain, on the album, there's a lyric, push start the Chevy
11:07
It's old and it's heavy, and I'm still smaller than my guitar. And these are the years that a song like Little Miss Twain takes me back to
11:20
I feel like I've been writing songs and being a singer all of my life
11:26
Little Miss Twain is how I was introduced when I was a kid on stage
11:31
You know, ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the stage. Little Miss Twain
11:36
So the album is a reflection of this whole period from the beginning all the way
11:42
not to the end, but up to when I became a recording artist, which is really when I became a recording artist
11:48
all that people really know. So I thought I would fill that gap in with Little Miss Twain
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