Where is Shania Twain now? A new Netflix documentary charts her rise to fame – these days she’s one of the richest singers in the world, with a net worth of US$400 million (despite a 15-year hiatus)
The life and career of “Queen of Country-Pop” Shania Twain will be revealed on Netflix on July 26. Shania Twain: Not Just A Girl chronicles the singer’s journey from her humble upbringing in the small town of Timmins, Ontario, to becoming one of the most influential artists and twists in her life. The film arrives with a compilation album, “Not Just a Girl (The Highlights)”, including her biggest hits and new single Not Just A Girl.
Born in 1965, Twain was on top of the world in the 1990s thanks to her many smash hits during that decade, like You’re Still the One, Man! I Feel Like A Woman and That Don’t Impress Me Much. She also beat a Guinness World Record in 2015 for having the biggest-selling album by a female soloist, “Come On Over”, selling 40 million units worldwide.
But what has happened since then and where is she now?
She had a 15-year hiatus
At the height of her career, Twain suddenly disappeared from the spotlight after releasing the album “Up” in 2002. She actually battled Lyme disease after getting bitten by a tick in Virginia in 2003, according to CNN. The illness led to her developing serious voice loss and she even thought she might “never sing again”, she told ITV’s Loose Women.
“I could speak but I couldn’t yell, for my dog or for my son or whatever. It was very depressing and I was really sad about it, but I still had my writing and my writing is my first love, really, over everything. I was only going to be a writer and not the performer,” she told British media.
After a “very long, drawn-out process”, she won her health battle to return to music with the album “Now” in 2017.
Did she swap husbands with her ex-best friend?
Besides her voice, Twain had another loss that also lengthened her hiatus: her split from her husband, Robert “Mutt” Lange. The famous record producer has worked with big names in his career from AC/DC to Def Leppard. He tied the knot with Twain in 1993 and was not only her life partner but also a co-writer and producer of her music.
After spending 17 years together and having a son, they got divorced. Then Twain found out that Lange allegedly cheated on her with her assistant and best friend at the time, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. “Fred [Thiébaud’s husband] and Mutt were good friends, and Marie-Anne and I were good friends,” Twain later told Oprah Winfrey. The country-pop singer found out about the affair through Marie-Anne’s husband, Frédéric Thiébaud, according to Smooth Radio.
Sharing the same heartbreak, Twain and Thiébaud’s friendship eventually developed into a romance. She married Nestle’s Swiss business executive in 2011 and they’ve seemingly enjoyed a happy marriage since then. “It’s twisted. But so beautifully twisted,” she told AARP Magazine. “Survival is everything. I was in quicksand. I panicked as everybody does, but I didn’t surrender. I found a way out.”
“Frédéric Thiébaud has been a true gift to me as a compassionate, understanding friend and, over time, an amazing love has blossomed from this precious friendship,” she also wrote in her blog.
According to various sources, the couple’s exes are still together, also married and living in Switzerland, though it’s not been publicly confirmed.