Five Things You Never Knew About Shania Twain

Find out why the country pop star hasn't released a new album in 11 years.

ByABC News
October 31, 2013, 11:25 AM
Singer Shania Twain performs during the debut of her residency show "Shania: Still the One" at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Dec. 1, 2012, in Las Vegas.
Singer Shania Twain performs during the debut of her residency show "Shania: Still the One" at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on Dec. 1, 2012, in Las Vegas.
Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Oct. 31, 2013— -- intro: After staying out of the spotlight for almost a decade, Shania Twain has dominated Las Vegas this year.

Twain has had hit after hit on both pop and country charts.

She's now brought that magic to the massive stage of the Caesars Palace Colosseum with a show that comes with seven major costume changes and a lavish hotel suite she calls home.

This extravagant lifestyle is a massive change from Twain's life before fame and her very public divorce from then-husband Mutt Lange.

While Twain connects with her audience every night she performs on stage, there are a few things she told ABC News' Robin Roberts that her fans may not know about her.

Click through to see five facts you probably didn't know about Shania Twain.

quicklist: 1category: Shania Factstitle: 1. Her Name's Meaningtext: The true meaning of the name "Shania" isn't clear.

Shania is an Ojibwa Indian name. Twain took it as a stage name and as an homage to her stepfather, Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa Indian. Some say it means "On my way," but others say it has no meaning.media: 20741207

quicklist: 2category: Shania Factstitle: 2. Her Fearstext: If it were up to her, Shania Twain would never have become a singer.

Twain's mother, Sharon Edwards, encouraged and supported Twain's singing career, despite the fact that the family struggled with poverty and hunger.

Twain told ABC News' Robin Roberts, "I wouldn't have done it by myself. I would have shied away from it. I would have shied away from my fears. I would have backed off from my fear of being the center of attention, 'cause it's really not something I'm comfortable with."media: 20741297

quicklist: 3category: Shania Factstitle: 3. Her Real Fathertext: Shania Twain never knew her biological father ... until now

Twain revealed to ABC News that she recently reached out to the father she hadn't seen since her parents divorced when she was 2 years old.

According to Twain, "That is just somebody that I've just [had] reintroduced back into in my life, and so it's really interesting now. I wanted my son to know his grandfather."

When asked whether he was surprised that she'd reached out to him, Twain said, "Yeah ... very very surprised. He's a very humble man, very nice man."

media: 20741309

quicklist: 4category: Shania Factstitle: 4. Her First Songtext: Shania Twain wrote her first song when she was just 10 years old.

Twain's first song, "Mama Won't You Come Out to Play," was a 10-year-old girl's hope for her mother. "My mother was always ... very isolating of herself," Twain said.

"I don't still really understand why. She's not alive anymore for me to ask her. I wish I could, but she was always that person that was watching life happen from inside through a window."

Twain explained further, "My mother was ... sad a lot of the time and really just didn't have the courage to get out and face life, and so that's why I wrote that song ... inviting my own mother to come out and play."media: 20741319

quicklist: 5category: Shania Factstitle: 5. Her New Albumtext:The real reason Shania Twain hasn't produced another album.

It's been 11 years since Twain's last album of all original music. She spent the past decade producing a greatest hits album and raising her now 12-year-old son, Eja.

But the true reason she hasn't yet produced a new album is that she hasn't yet found a replacement for the producer of all of her hit albums, her ex-husband Mutt Lange.

"I feel a little sensitive," Twain said. "I feel a little vulnerable about it, because I've worked with Mutt for so many years."

She said it would be difficult for her to share her creative vulnerability with someone new: "It's ... a hump I have to get over."

But think positive Shania Twain fans. She did reveal to ABC News that she's currently working on songs for an upcoming album.

media: 20741330