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Shania Shares Pain and Pride in Shania's Homecoming, Monday on CTV
Toronto, Ontario (November 25, 2004) - Shania Twain says the early days of her career were not as romantic as legend has it.
In a new primetime special airing Monday on CTV, Twain says that being yanked out of bed to perform in local clubs may sound nostalgic, but she "didn't always want to do it. I didn't want to come in these smoky clubs with all these drunks in the middle of the night when I had school the next day. I didn't want to do that." Nevertheless, Twain shares fond memories of her childhood growing up in Timmins, Ontario in the one-hour special Shania's Homecoming premiering Monday, Nov. 29 at 8 p.m. ET, exclusively on CTV (check local listings).
After years of fame, record-setting album sales and worldwide notoriety, the international recording superstar has remained true to her roots in the small northern Ontario mining community. "I come from Timmins and will always be able to fit back in here," she says. "I'm happy to just fall right back into where I come from. I can do that at any point in my life."
Hosted by etalk Daily's Ben Mulroney, Shania's Homecoming is an exclusive chronicle of Twain's hometown tour of Timmins, Ontario, earlier this month. This intimate walk down memory lane invites viewers to share the experience through candid behind-the-scenes footage, including her emotional first visit to the "Shania Twain Centre," a museum dedicated to her blockbuster career. The special features a never-before-heard duet recorded at a friends' basement at the age of sixteen, a reunion with her very first band "Long Shot," highlights from Twain's stint as co-host of Canada AM, and an emotional reflection on the tragic passing of both her parents in a car accident.
Here's Shania on …
The Early Days: "My parents would basically come [to the bar] in the early evening and convince the band to let their little girl play later in the night … and the club owner would agree to after hours when they stopped serving. I'd get yanked out of bed at midnight and play a few songs."
Her First Paid Gigs: "I never had to wear heals to perform and certainly [had] never performed in sequins or anything like that … never had so much hairspray in my hair. I never wore all that make-up. I didn't know what it was like to wear these crystal earrings. It was all new."
The Name, Shania: "I guess maybe the Eileen Twain didn't flow as well so there was a girl I was working with at a show in Huntsville, Ontario … her name was Shania. She was from an Ojibwe background and my father was Ojibwe and so, I just thought the association just so uncanny."
Her Parents: "They were always proud of me and they always told me that. … I mean, of course they'd be proud, but they would have just enjoyed sort of making it with me I think… I just think they would have enjoyed every second of it [her success]. They would have enjoyed being spoiled. They would have enjoyed traveling. They would have lapped it up I think."
Her Parents' Death: "When my parents died, along with that also … the dream did die a little bit. I kind of lost the ambition to please them … but by that time my mother and whole family had invested so much time developing me as a performing artist that it felt really dumb to throw it all away."
Shania Twain's Greatest Hits, a new album chronicling 18 of Twain's biggest, chart-topping hits as well as three new songs was released on Nov. 9, 2004 by Universal Music Canada. It's the first greatest hits package ever from the diamond-selling artist.
Universal Music Canada, a unit of Universal Music Group, is Canada's leading music organization, maintaining an overall 32.5 per cent market share. For further information on Universal Music Canada, please visit
www.umusic.ca.