Shania Twain Couldn't Shake Her Stage Fright Until Her 50s: 'The Fears Just Dropped Away'

Man! She feels like a woman... but it took her decades to feel comfortable in front of a live crowd. Shania Twain has undergone quite the transformation — from her hardscrabble childhood in Canada to her superstar singing career — yet while Twain has been singing almost her entire life, the "Come on Over" hitmaker confesses that only in the last decade has she overcome her fear of live performances.

In an interview on CBS Sunday Morning, Twain explained that she suffered from terrible stage fright as a result of her early years of performing. Her mother, Sharon, saw her Twain's talent as a way to bring in some money, so she brought young Shania to local bars to sing. As a minor, Twain wasn't allowed to be in the pubs while liquor was being served, so she was booked after last call, when patrons had knocked back more than their share. "I was eight years old, and the bars were smoky, and everyone was intoxicated," Twain recalled. "I don't know what I'm actually singing about because I'm singing about divorce, and I'm eight." 

The memory of being around the drunken, rowdy patrons stuck with Twain, impacting her nerves long after she'd grown up and become a multi-Grammy-winning artist selling out stadiums worldwide. It didn't help that Twain suffered numerous tragedies in her life, including the loss of her parents in a car crash, the end of her first marriage — her husband had an affair with their assistant — and a throat condition that nearly put a stop to her career. Ironically, that health issue led to her triumph over stage fright.

In the early 2000s, to the bafflement of doctors, Shania Twain began losing the power in her voice, putting her in the sad company of famous performers who had to stop working because of health issues. After seven years, Twain was diagnosed with vocal cord damage related to an earlier bout of Lyme disease. Twain underwent throat surgery in 2018, which involved inserting implants to support the muscle tissue. "After I had the surgery, I was petrified to make a sound. I didn't know what was going to come out," the "Still the One" singer told InStyle in 2023. "It did scare me, but I just had to take the leap and make a sound. And I was so excited about what came out. [...] I was really, really, really excited." 

That excitement helped Twain win her decades-long battle with stage fright, as she realized how close she'd come to losing the career she loved. "And only in my 50s, I finally just said, 'Whoa. I've got my voice. I have an audience. I have everything to just celebrate,'" Twain told CBS This Morning. "And the fear just dropped away." Her singing has become more powerful in more ways than one: Not only is Twain giving it her all, but the surgery also makes it easier for her to belt her numbers, old and new. 

Twain's album, "Little Miss Twain," came out in late July 2026. It's a musical look back at the journey that led her to become a professional recording artist. "[W]hat makes me feel so accomplished, is staying connected to where I came from," she told CBS. "It's the contrast that makes it feel so good."