Thrive: 30 Inspirational Rags-to-Riches Stories

Shania Twain

Shania Twain was born Eileen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Her biological parents divorced when she was two years old, and her mother, Sharon, moved to Timmins, Ontario, taking Shania and her two younger sisters with her. Sharon then married Jerry Twain, a Native American, and the couple had a son together, Mark. Jerry adopted Shania and her sisters, legally changing their last names to Twain.

From the age of three, Shania showed an interest in music. By age ten, she was writing her own songs. Her mother fully supported her music career. Despite their financial struggles, her mother spent every extra dollar on developing Shania's talents, including paying for vocal lessons in Toronto, Ontario. She also took Shania around to perform at local bars and on television programs. As her father was in and out of work and refused government handouts, Shania and her siblings were often starving. Her parents also frequently fought, with her father often physically abusive toward her mother. At age sixteen, Shania joined a cover band called Flirt that travelled all around Ontario.

At age twenty-one, Shania's parents were fatally killed in a car accident, leaving Shania in charge of her three younger siblings. Devastated, Shania moved to Huntsville, Ontario. Under the advisement of a family friend, she took a job singing at a local resort. She moved the family into a house with no electricity or running water, where they bathed and washed their clothes in the nearby river. Shania performed every night and managed to pay the rent and provide for her younger siblings. After nearly four years, Shania's siblings were older and moved out on their own, and Shania was ready to advance her musical career. She assembled a demo tape, and her manager set up a showcase for her to present to record executives. Within a few months, she was signed to Mercury Nashville Records.

Shania recorded and released her debut album, Shania Twain (1993), which sold an unimpressive 100,000 copies. After failing to receive radio airplay, Shania turned to television and released a series of music videos. Her videos were noticed by Sean Penn and producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, who both wanted to work with her. With Lange, Shania recorded and released The Woman in Me (1995), which has sold over 12 million copies in the United States and became the best-selling country album by a female artist in history. She followed with Come On Over (1997), which has sold over 17 million copies in the United States, breaking the record she had previously broken.