By 2008, Shania Twain had sold millions of copies of her records worldwide, but she was devastated. In his own words, “it was like dying”. Her husband and life partner of 14 years, the popular ‘Mutt’ producer, had just cuckolded her. And she had done it with the one she considered her best friend and “confidante”. Prince jumped at the chance and called her on the phone: “Why don’t you come to Paisley Park?” The Canadian star, a big fan of the Minneapolis player, declined the offer.
Betrayal: “It was like dying”
Shania met famous South African producer Robert John Lange (Céline Dion, Britney Spears) in 1993. Six months later, they were married. Together they worked on the artist’s most successful albums: The woman in me (1995), Come here (1997) y At the top (2002). During the 1990s, they met a woman named Marie-Anne whom they hired to manage their mansion in Switzerland. The woman also became Twain’s personal assistant and close friend. He was his “confidant”. Shania and ‘Mutt’ have spent a lot of time with Marie-Anne and her husband, Frédéric Thébaud.
One day, the interpreter of You are always the only one received a call from Frédéric: Marie-Anne and ‘Mutt’ had an “affair”. “Of course, I didn’t believe him.I thought he was making it up,” Twain would recall in an interview with Ellen DeGeneres. “But he was like, ‘I have the proof if you want to see it. hotel bills and all kinds of details.” In 2008, after 14 years of marriage, Shania and Mutt separated. and started divorce proceedings. In the Netflix documentary ‘Not just a girl’, the singer compares her breakup to the car accident her parents died in when she was 22: “It was like dying.”
Shania’s pain and the opportunity to make another Rumors
In 2008, Shania Twain was an international star. He had sold over 80 million copies of three albums alone. Come on over, for example, had been the best-selling by a female artist and the best-selling country genre of all time (over 40 million copies). But I was sunk. He was going through one of the most painful moments of his life: “Frame the final end in many facets of my life. It took me a while to come back.”
When Prince found out about the grief the singer was going through saw the opportunity to do a definitive album that reflected the “suffering” of a “broken heart”, In the style of the classic Fleetwood Mac, Rumors (1977). It should be noted that the recording sessions for what is considered one of the great albums of all time took place right after the breakups of some of its members. Composed primarily by Lindsey Buckingham, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks, many lyrics deal with difficult relationships.
“Why don’t you come to Paisley Park?”
So he picked up the phone and called the singer. We were on the phone and he said‘Shania, why don’t you come to Paisley Park? I want to do the next ‘Rumours’ album with you.'”. Twain discussed inviting Prince over in an interview for The Zane Lowe Show on Apple Music. “It was the strangest thing he could ever say to me, because he thought what I could experience was on this album, on the ‘Rumours’ album. That’s what he told me.”
Twain, a big fan of the American icon, did not feel prepared. “When Prince told me that, I was like, ‘Man, I’m not even divorced. I was dumped, but obviously I’m not divorced yet. i told him something like that “It’s too ironic what you’re asking me, don’t you think?.
“Swear words are not allowed here”
Twain also related that Prince’s mannerisms posed another obstacle. “I was on the phone talking to him and I was swearing, like I always do. I mean, I’m doing it because I’m home. And he warned me, “Well, if you decide to come to Paisley Park, swearing is not allowed here.” Yes it was another success. I told her ‘Oh no, I love you so much, butI don’t think I can write and record an album without swearing at some point in the process.!. What are you going to do to me if I blaspheme? Am I going to have to go to the grounded corner or something?'”
And above all, I hadn’t found my voice yet.” Twain is referring to his battle with Lyme disease which he was diagnosed with in 2003, when he was bitten by a tick while riding a horse in Norfolk, Virginia. He had lost his voice and retired from the stage. “I was still working on it. And I still had a lot of time to find her. She wrote, but she also I felt too uncomfortable to work with Prince in the studio. She was too insecure about everything.” In fact, she thought she would never sing again.
Happy ending
Although she lost the opportunity to work with Prince, Shania Twain’s story has a “happy ending”. After the separation, Shania found love again… with Marie-Anne’s ex-husband, Frédéric! The duped couple started dating in 2009 and married in Puerto Rico in 2011. The singer has also “found her voice”. After years of multiple surgeries, she finally got it: “I have a different voice and look different, but I feel good. I am not afraid and that motivates me.
The finishing touch to the happy ending is to have become “the undisputed queen of the British charts” thanks to the debut of the British number 1 of queen of me (03/02/2023), his sixth studio album. “Thank you to all of you who supported me,” he wrote on his Instagram. “I’ve been waiting and waiting to share this music with you…this is just the beginning.”