Look up Lionel in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Lionel may refer to:

as a male given name

• Lionel Atwill, English actor
• Lionel Barrymore, American actor
• Lionel Bart, British composer
• Lionel Blair, British dancer and actor
• Lionel Hampton, American jazz musician
• Lionel Jeffries, English actor
• Lionel Jospin, French politician
• Lionel Logue, Australian speech therapist and friend of King George VI
• Lionel Messi, Argentine footballer
• Lionel Richie, American singer
• Lionel Rose, Australian boxer
• Lionel Stander, American actor
• Lionel Shriver, female American author
• Lionel Trilling, American literary critic

other

• Lionel Corporation, an American manufacturer and retailer of toy trains and model railroads
• Lionel, LLC, an American designer and importer of toy trains and model railroads, owns the trademarks and most of the product rights associated with Lionel Corp., but is not directly related
• Lionel (bridge), a bridge defense against 1NT
• Lionel (radio personality), an American radio talk show host
• Sir Lionel, a knight of the Round Table in Arthurian legend

as a placename

• Lionel, Lewis in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland

See also[link]

• For people and characters with the given name Lionel, see: All pages beginning with "Lionel"

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie performing on his sold-out 2011 Australian and New Zealand Concert Tour
Background information
Birth name	Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr.
Born	(1949-06-20) June 20, 1949 (age 63) Tuskegee, Alabama, United States
Genres	Soul, R&B, pop, pop rock, country
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, record producer, actor
Instruments	Vocals, piano/keyboards, saxophone
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Island, MCA, Motown
Associated acts	Diana Ross, Commodores, Nicole Richie, Alabama (band), Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Luther Vandross, Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Patti Labelle, USA for Africa, Jason Derulo, Natasha Bedingfield, Kenny Rogers, Akon
Website	lionelrichie.com

Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor. From 1968, he was a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records. Richie made his solo debut in 1982 with the album Lionel Richie and number-one hit "Truly".

Early life[link]

Richie was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, the son of Alberta R. (Foster) and Lionel Brockman Richie.^[1] Richie grew up on the campus of Tuskegee Institute.^[2] His grandfather's house was across the street from the home of the president of the college. His family moved to Joliet, Illinois, where he graduated from Joliet Township High School, East Campus. A star tennis player in Joliet, he accepted a tennis scholarship to attend Tuskegee Institute, and graduated with a major in economics. After receiving his undergraduate degree from Tuskegee, Richie briefly attended graduate school at Auburn University. He is a member of Kappa Kappa Psi^[3] and Alpha Phi Alpha^[4][5] Fraternity.

Career[link]

The Commodores[link]

As a student in Tuskegee, Richie formed a succession of R&B groups in the mid-1960s. In 1968 he became a singer and saxophonist with the Commodores. They signed a recording contract with Atlantic Records in 1968 for one record before moving on to Motown Records initially as a support act to The Jackson 5. The Commodores then became established as a popular soul group. Their first several albums had a danceable, funky sound, as in such tracks as "Machine Gun" and "Brick House." Over time, Richie wrote and sang more romantic, easy-listening ballads such as "Easy," "Three Times a Lady," "Still," and the tragic breakup ballad "Sail On."

By the late 1970s he had begun to accept songwriting commissions from other artists. He composed "Lady" for Kenny Rogers, which hit #1 in 1980, and produced Rogers's album Share Your Love the following year. Richie and Rogers maintained a strong friendship in later years. Latin jazz composer and salsa romantica pioneer La Palabra enjoyed international success with his cover of "Lady," which was played at Latin dance clubs. Also in 1981 Richie sang the theme song for the film Endless Love, a duet with Diana Ross. Issued as a single, the song topped the UK and US pop music charts, and became one of Motown's biggest hits. Its success encouraged Richie to branch out into a full-fledged solo career in 1982. He was replaced as lead singer for The Commodores by Skyler Jett in 1983. His debut album, Lionel Richie, produced another chart-topping single, "Truly," which continued the style of his ballads with the Commodores.

Solo career[link]

Richie performing in March 2011

Richie's 1982 self-titled debut contained three hit singles: the U.S. #1 song "Truly", which launched his career as one of the most successful balladeers of the 1980s, and the Top Five hits "You Are" and "My Love." The album hit #3 on the music charts and sold over 4 million copies. His 1983 follow-up album, Can't Slow Down, sold over twice as many copies and won two Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, propelling him into the first rank of international superstars. The album contained the #1 hit "All Night Long" a Caribbean-flavored dance number that was promoted by a colorful music video produced by former Monkee Michael Nesmith. In 1984, Richie performed “All Night Long” at the closing ceremony of the XXIII Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Several more Top 10 hits followed, the most successful of which was the ballad "Hello" (1984), a sentimental love song that showed how far Richie had moved from his R&B roots. Richie had three more Top Ten hits in 1984, "Stuck on You" (#3), "Running with the Night" (#7) and "Penny Lover" (#8). Now described by one critic as "the black Barry Manilow," in 1985 Richie wrote and performed a suitably soothing theme song, "Say You, Say Me," for the film White Nights, winning an Oscar for his efforts as well as reaching #1 on the U.S. charts and staying there for four weeks, making it the #1 song of 1985 according to Billboard's year-end Hot 100 chart. He also collaborated with Michael Jackson on the charity single "We Are the World" by USA for Africa, another #1 hit.

In 1986, Richie released Dancing on the Ceiling, his last widely popular album, which produced a run of US and UK hits including "Say You, Say Me" (U.S. #1), "Dancing on the Ceiling" (U.S. #2), "Ballerina Girl" (U.S. #7), and "Se La" (U.S. #20), Richie's most recent U.S. Pop Top Twenty hit. The title selection was accompanied by a video directed by Stanley Donen, which drew inspiration from Royal Wedding,^{[citation needed]} a 1951 Fred Astaire film Donen had directed. The critical consensus was that this album represented nothing more than a consolidation of his previous work, though Richie's collaboration with the country group Alabama on "Deep River Woman" did break new ground. By 1987, Richie was exhausted from his work schedule and after a controversial year laid low, taking care of his father in Alabama. His father, Lionel Sr., died in 1990. Richie made his return to recording and performing following the release of his first greatest-hits collection, Back to Front, in 1992.

Since then, his ever-more-relaxed schedule has kept his recording and live work to a minimum. He broke the silence in 1996 with Louder Than Words, on which he resisted any change of style or the musical fashion-hopping of the past decade, sticking instead with his chosen path of well-crafted soul music, which in the intervening years has become known as Contemporary R&B.

Richie's albums in the 1990s such as Louder Than Words and Time failed to match the commercial success of his earlier work. Some of his recent albums, such as Renaissance, have returned to his older style and achieved success in Europe but only modest notice in the United States. Since 2004, he has produced a total of six Top 40 singles in the UK. On March 2011, Richie is to tour Australia next year and is scheduled to perform at several winery events in March 2011.^[6]

Long-lasting popularity and later career[link]

In 2002, Richie's song "Running with the Night" was featured on the Rockstar North video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City though the song was removed from later versions of the game. In 2004, he appeared on Canadian Idol as his songs were featured during a Canadian Idol week.

Later in 2004, he also appeared on the British motoring television series Top Gear in the "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car" segment where he was interviewed by host Jeremy Clarkson. During his lap, the Suzuki Liana he was driving lost a wheel due to hard cornering.

In November 2005, Lionel Richie performed with Kenny Rogers on a CMT Crossroads special. The show gave an informative insight into their friendship both in and out of the music world. Richie was also the headliner at a 2000 Fourth of July tribute concert with Fantasia Barrino at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. On May 7, 2006, Richie performed on the main stage (Acura Stage) at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, replacing Antoine "Fats" Domino, who had fallen ill. Richie released his eighth studio album entitled "Coming Home" on September 12, 2006. The first single of the album was "I Call It Love" and was premiered in July 2006, becoming his biggest hit in the U.S. in ten years. The album was an incredible success for Richie in the United States, peaking at #6. His adopted daughter Nicole Richie stars in the music video for this track.

On December 9, 2006, Richie hosted and performed live on the British television show An Audience with Lionel Richie. Two months later, he performed "Hello" on the 49th Grammy Awards show.

On November 25, 2007, he made a surprise appearance on the Australian Idol grand finale performing "All Night Long (All Night)" at the Sydney Opera House. Richie donated to Barack Obama's 2008 Presidential campaign.

On May 2, 2008, Lionel Richie was the 21st recipient of the George and Ira Gershwin Lifetime Achievement Award at UCLA's annual Spring Sing. In accepting the award, Richie said: "Forget about surviving 30 some odd years in the music business, Lionel Richie survived 27 years of Nicole Richie."^[7]

Recently, he has announced that he would like to get The Commodores back together soon, "or in the next 10 years no one will care."^[8]

On December 31, 2008, Richie performed in Times Square for the New Year's Eve celebration and ball drop. He also performed on the 2009 season finale for American Idol with Danny Gokey.

A new album, Just Go was released in spring 2009 – around the time Lionel confirmed there is to be a Commodores reunion in the near future.

On July 7, 2009, Richie performed "Jesus is Love" at Michael Jackson's memorial service.

On May 30, 2010, Richie performed at the National Memorial Day Concert in Washington D.C., singing "Stuck on You"^[9] and "America the Beautiful."^[10][11][12] Richie himself is from a military family.^[12]

Richie and Guy Sebastian performing "All Night Long" during Richie's 2011 Australian and New Zealand tour.

In Australia on October 2, 2010, Richie performed at the AFL Grand Final Replay in the Pre-game entertainment to a sell out crowd and also post match at AAMI Park.^[13]

Richie returned to Australia in 2011 where he and guest artist Guy Sebastian toured Australia and New Zealand with concert tour dates spread throughout the months of March and April 2011.^[14][15] Richie and Guy Sebastian have recorded Richie's 1983 #1 single "All Night Long" together, to raise money for Australian and New Zealand flood and earthquake relief. Richie handpicked Sebastian to support him in Australia and the pair will perform the song together at each concert.^[16][17]

On March 26, 2012, Richie released Tuskegee, featuring 13 of his hit songs performed as duets with country stars. His duet partners on Tuskegee include Sugarland’s Jennifer Nettles, Jason Aldean, Tim McGraw, Blake Shelton, Darius Rucker, Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Billy Currington, Little Big Town, Shania Twain, Kenny Rogers, Willie Nelson and Jimmy Buffett. ^[18] In an interview with American Songwriter Magazine, Lionel Richie explained the new duets of his hit songs with, "I’m just gonna stand next to them again with great country artists and hug them."^[19]

Popularity in the Arab world[link]

In recent years, Richie has become a phenomenon in various Arab states,^[20][21] and has performed in Morocco, Dubai, Qatar and Libya.^[22] ABC News said, "Grown Iraqi men get misty-eyed by the mere mention of his name. 'I love Lionel Richie,' they say". They can sing an entire Lionel Richie song. According to Richie, he was told that Iraqi civilians were playing "All Night Long" the night U.S. tanks invaded Baghdad. Richie was against the war, but says he could see a day when he would come and perform in Baghdad. "I would love to be here for that."^[22]

Family[link]

Richie married his college sweetheart, Brenda Harvey, on October 18, 1975. During their marriage, Lionel began a relationship with Diane Alexander in 1986. In 1988 while separated, Brenda allegedly discovered Richie and Alexander together in a Beverly Hills hotel room by saying she was "room service", and breaking in the door. A confrontation ensued and Brenda attacked both Richie and Diane brutally. Brenda was arrested for spousal abuse, trespassing, assault towards Alexander, and vandalism. Richie and Brenda divorced on August 9, 1993, after being married nearly 18 years.^[5]

In 1983 Lionel Richie and his wife, Brenda, informally adopted Nicole Camille Escovedo, the two-year-old daughter of one of the members of Lionel's band. They raised her as their daughter, Nicole Richie, and adopted her legally when she was nine years old. Lionel Richie became a grandfather on January 11, 2008, when Nicole Richie gave birth to a baby girl, Harlow Winter Kate Richie Madden,^{[citation needed]} with the lead singer of Good Charlotte, Joel Madden; and again when she gave birth to Sparrow James Midnight Madden on September 9, 2009.

Richie married Diane Alexander on December 21, 1995.^[5] They have a son, Miles Brockman^[23] (born May 27, 1994),^[5] and a daughter, Sofia (born August 24, 1998). Lionel and Diane Alexander divorced in January 2004.

Genealogy[link]

In 2011 the NBC television program Who Do You Think You Are? did research into Lionel Richie's genealogy and specifically looked at information relating to one of Lionel's great-grandfathers, the father of Lionel's maternal grandmother.^[24]

Lionel's great-grandfather was John Louis Brown (October 25, 1839 - September 8, 1931), the bi-racial (mulatto) possible son of the widowed 81-year-old American-Revolutionary-War-fighter Dr. Morgan Brown or his son, Judge Morgan Welles Brown.^[25] (January 13, 1758 - March 23, 1840).^[26] His mother was one of Dr. Morgan Brown's slaves Mariah, who in his father's final years on his farm in Tennessee was his live-in housekeeper and nurse. Born a slave just like his mother, the baby John Louis Brown's ownership passed to his father/much-older half-brother Judge Morgan W(elles) Brown (January 1, 1800 - March 7, 1853) after his father's death in 1840, as did the ownership of his mother. Despite attempts by his father Dr. Morgan Brown to free both John Louis and his mother Mariah in his will that had been written before John Louis's birth in 1839, John Louis was never freed. John Louis was, however, educated as per his father Dr. Morgan Brown's wishes in his will, and against the mores and the laws of the time. The educated John Louis became known as "Doc"^[27] and he took the Brown surname. After the death of his father/half-brother in 1853 John Louis's ownership had stayed within the family and he remained known as the slave of Morgan W. Brown even though Judge Morgan Welles Brown was deceased.^[27][28] John Louis then served as the slave, non-combatant,^[29] personal-body-servant to his older nephew John Claiborne Thompson (April 3, 1828 - February 2, 1872), the son of his deceased half-sister Elizabeth Little Brown (February 2, 1792 - December 10, 1854), during John Claiborne Thompson's 12 months of service from May 1861 to May 1862 in the American Civil War, as evidenced by John Louis's application for a pension late in life.^[27][30] It has been recorded that John Louis was wounded during the war, and that “He bore dispatches to Felix Zollicoffer and performed many other duties of service and responsibility.”^[27]

As an emancipated slave, in the 1880s and early 1890s John Louis Brown became a Supreme Grand Archon (national leader) of the Knights of the Wise Men, a fraternal organization that gave support and insurance to the African-American community. He is also credited with writing the rules, laws, and regulations for the group. The Knights of the Wise Men was a precursor to the later civil rights movement.

In a declaration to the court in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1832 John Louis Brown's father, Dr. Morgan Brown, claimed to have "a large family bible now in my possession, with the names of my ancestors from their first landing in America in the month of 1638."^[31] This suggests that John Louis Brown's ancestors were among the early European settlers of what became the United States of America. This family bible may have belonged to the family of his ancestor Edward Browne who in 1668 in Maryland, Virginia married Sarah Williams, the daughter of Morgan Williams^[32] (there were at least five people called Morgan Williams who immigrated to Virginia between 1639 and 1650).^[33] This Edward Browne is possibly the son of an Edward Browne Snr. and his wife Ellinor. Edward Browne Snr. appears to have arrived in Virginia in 1637 (after being sponsored by a John Brodwell).^[33][34]

Lionel Richie's maternal grandmother, Adelaide Mary Brown (January 19, 1893 - November 30, 1996), was John Louis Brown's only known child. She was fathered from his marriage on April 6, 1890 at the age of 50 to the bi-racial teenage Volenderver Towson. The marriage floundered in the early 1890s during the period that the Knights of the Wise Men folded after suffering financially from the payment of many death benefits after a smallpox epidemic in 1891, and the treasurer soon after apparently disappearing with the remaining funds. A divorce was granted on July 28, 1897. The only other marriage that is known about was a marriage before 1924 to "a middle aged coloured woman who is trying to run him off from home". He was a proud man, who despite falling upon hard times was refusing to go to the poor house.^[27] In his last years John Louis worked as a caretaker at Pleasant Gardens Cemetery, in the city of Chattanooga where the Knights of the Wise Men had been based. After dying of pneumonia at the age of 93, and he was buried there in the paupers' section.^[35][36]

Breast cancer activist[link]

Richie helped to raise over $3.1 million for the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. He was the featured performer at the Foundation's Soirée Bouquet, the annual spring gala.

Richie told the crowd that his grandmother was diagnosed with breast cancer in her 80s, but survived and lived until she was 103 years old. He stated that she was his enduring symbol of hope and his reason for becoming a breast cancer activist.^[37]

In popular culture[link]

Richie in March 2012.

• Argentine-born soccer superstar, Lionel Messi, was named after Richie.^[38]
• Richie appeared in NBC's Who Do You Think You Are? on March 4, 2011, and found out his great-grandfather was the national leader of an early African-American fraternal organization.^[24]

• The Hong Kong veteran actor Yeung Chak Lam who acted in many kungfu dramas has been dubbed the "Lionel Richie" of Hong Kong as he resembles the latter a lot.

Discography[link]

• Lionel Richie (1982)
• Can't Slow Down (1983)
• Dancing on the Ceiling (1986)
• Louder Than Words (1996)
• Time (1998)
• Renaissance (2000)
• Just for You (2004)
• Coming Home (2006)
• Just Go (2009)
• Tuskegee (2012)

Filmography[link]

• 1977: Scott Joplin (w/ The Commodores)
• 1978: Thank God It's Friday (w/ The Commodores)
• 1990: Running with the Night
• 1991: Truth or Dare (documentary)
• 1996: The Preacher's Wife
• 1998: Pariah
• 2007: The Simpsons (episode He Loves to Fly and He D'ohs)
• 2011: Who Do You Think You Are?
• 2011: Lionel Richie: Dancing On the Ceiling (Part of the BBC4 documentary series, Black Music Legends of the 1980s)

See also[link]

	Book: Lionel Richie
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

	Biography portal
	United States portal

• List of best-selling music artists
• List of best-selling music artists in the United States

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Lionel Richie at the Internet Movie Database
• Lionel Richie interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' 03/09
• Baghdad's Lionel Richie Obsession
• NPR profile
• Listen to Lionel Richie talk to David Jensen on UK radio station, Capital Gold (October 2006)
• The Rude Awakening – Lionel Richie in Stuido (sic) on YouTube
• Lionel Richie Interview in SPIN's February Issue
• Lionel Richie Interview – Celebrity Scribe

v t e Lionel Richie Studio albums Lionel Richie (1982) Can't Slow Down (1983) Dancing on the Ceiling (1986) Louder Than Words (1996) Time (1998) Renaissance (2000) Just for You (2004) Coming Home (2006) Just Go (2009) Tuskegee (2012) Live albums Encore (2002) Compilation albums Back to Front (1992) Truly: The Love Songs (1997) The Definitive Collection (2007) Singles "Endless Love" (with Diana Ross) (1981) "Truly" (1982) "You Are" (1983) "My Love" (1983) "All Night Long (All Night)" (1983) "Running with the Night" (1983) "Hello" (1984) "Stuck on You" (1984) "Penny Lover" (1984) "Say You, Say Me" (1985) "Dancing on the Ceiling" (1986) "Love Will Conquer All" (1986) "Ballerina Girl" (1986) "Deep River Woman" (1987) "Se La" (1987) "Do It to Me" (1992) "My Destiny" (1992) "I Call It Love" (2006) "Why" (2006) "All Around the World" (2007) "Just Go" (2009) "Endless Love" (with Shania Twain) (2012) "Say You, Say Me" (with Rasmus Seebach) (2012) Related articles Discography Commodores Book:Lionel Richie

v t e Commodores Walter Orange William King J.D. Nicholas Lionel Richie Thomas McClary Ronald LaPread Milan Williams Sheldon Reynolds Harold Hudson Skyler Jett Albums Machine Gun (1974) Caught in the Act (1975) Movin' On (1975) Hot on the Tracks (1976) Commodores (1977) Natural High (1978) Midnight Magic (1979) Heroes (1980) In the Pocket (1981) Commodores 13 (1983) Nightshift (1985) United (1986) Rock Solid (1988) Commodores Christmas (1992) No Tricks (1993) Singles "Slippery When Wet" (1975) "Just to Be Close to You" (1976) "Easy" (1977) "Brick House" (1977) "Too Hot ta Trot" (1978) "Three Times a Lady" (1978) "Sail On" (1979) "Still" (1979) "Lady (You Bring Me Up)" (1981) "Oh No" (1981) "Nightshift" (1985) "Take It From Me" (1987) Categories Albums Songs Book:Commodores

Shania Twain
Twain at the 2011 Juno Awards in March 2011
Background information
Birth name	Eilleen Regina Edwards
Also known as	Eilleen Twain (1967–1992)
Born	(1965-08-28) August 28, 1965 (age 46) Windsor, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Country, country pop, country rock
Occupations	Singer-songwriter, television personality
Years active	1993–present
Labels	Mercury Nashville
Associated acts	Billy Currington, Mark McGrath, Lionel Richie, Michael Bublé, Alison Krauss
Website	www.shaniatwain.com

Shania Twain, OC ( /ʃəˌnaɪ.ə ˈtweɪn/; born Eilleen Regina Edwards; August 28, 1965) is a Canadian country pop singer-songwriter. Her album The Woman in Me (1995), brought her fame and her 1997 album Come On Over, became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician in any genre, and the best-selling country album of all time. It has sold more than 40 million copies worldwide and is the ninth best-selling album in the U.S.^[1] Her fourth album, Up!, was released in November 2002. To date it has sold 20 million copies worldwide.^[1]

Twain has won five Grammy Awards and 27 BMI Songwriter awards.^[1] She has had three albums certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America and is the second best-selling artist in Canada, behind Céline Dion, with three of her studio albums certified double diamond by the Canadian Recording Industry Association. She is the first (and currently only) female artist in history to have 3 consecutive albums reach diamond status, indicating sales of at least 10 million, certified by the RIAA. Sometimes referred to as "The Queen of Country Pop",^[2] Twain has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide^[1] and is ranked 10th best-selling artist of the Nielsen SoundScan era.^[3] She was also ranked 72nd on Billboard's "Artists of the decade" (2000–10).^[4] Most recently, Twain has her own TV series, Why Not? with Shania Twain, that premiered on the OWN on May 8, 2011. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 2, 2011.

Early years[link]

Shania Twain was born Eileen Regina Edwards in Windsor, Ontario, daughter of Sharon (née Morrison) and Clarence Edwards. Her parents divorced when she was two and her mother then moved to Timmins, Ontario with Eilleen and her sisters Jill and Carrie Ann. Sharon married Jerry Twain, an Ojibwa, and they had a son together, Mark. Jerry adopted the girls, legally changing their last name to Twain. When Mark was still in diapers, the Twains adopted Jerry's baby nephew, Darryl, after Darryl's mother died. Because of her connection to her stepfather, in the past, people had presumed Twain's ancestry was Ojibwa, but she stated in an interview that her biological father was part Cree.^[5] Through her maternal grandfather, she is a descendant of Zacharie Cloutier.^[6] Her maternal grandmother, Eileen Pearce, emigrated from Newbridge, Kildare, Ireland.

Eilleen Twain had a hard childhood in Timmins. Her parents earned little and there was often a shortage of food in the household. Eilleen did not confide her situation to school authorities, fearing they might break up the family. In the remote, rugged community, she learned to hunt and to chop wood. Sharon and Jerry's marriage was at times stormy, and from a young age, Eilleen witnessed violent fights between them. Sharon struggled with bouts of depression. In the summer of 1979, while Jerry was at work, at Eilleen's insistence, her mother drove the rest of the family 680 km (425 mi) south to a Toronto homeless shelter for assistance.^[7] Sharon returned to Jerry with the children in 1981. In Timmins, Twain started singing at bars at the age of eight to try to make ends meet, often earning twenty dollars between midnight and one in the morning performing for remaining customers after the bar had finished serving. Although she expressed a dislike for singing in those bars, Twain believes that this was her own kind of performing arts school on the road.^[8] She has said of the ordeal, "My deepest passion was music and it helped. There were moments when I thought 'I hate this'. I hated going into bars and being with drunks. But I loved the music and so I survived".^[9] Twain wrote her first songs at the age of ten, Is Love a Rose and Just Like the Storybooks which were fairy tales in rhyme.^[10] She states that the art of creating, of actually writing songs, "was very different from performing them and became progressively important".^[10]

In the early 1980s, Twain spent some time working with her father's reforestation business in northern Ontario, a business that employed some 75 Ojibwe and Cree workers. Although the work was demanding and the pay low, Twain said "I loved the feeling of being stranded. I'm not afraid of being in my own environment, being physical, working hard. I was very strong, I walked miles and miles every day and carried heavy loads of trees. You can't shampoo, use soap or deodorant, or makeup, nothing with any scent; you have to bathe and rinse your clothes in the lake. It was a very rugged existence, but I was very creative and I would sit alone in the forest with my dog and a guitar and would just write songs".^[11]

Music career[link]

Career as Eilleen Twain[link]

At 13, Eilleen was invited to perform on CBC television's the Tommy Hunter Show. While attending Timmins High and Vocational School in Timmins, she was also the singer for a local band called "Longshot" which covered Top 40 music.^[12]

After graduating from Timmins High in June 1983, Twain was eager to expand her musical horizons.^[13] After the demise of the band Longshot, Twain was approached by a cover band led by Diane Chase called "Flirt" and they toured all over Ontario.^[13] Twain also began taking singing lessons from Toronto-based coach Ian Garrett and would often clean his house in payment for her lessons.^[14] In the autumn of 1984, Twain's talents were noticed by Toronto DJ Stan Campbell who wrote about her in a Country Music News article: "Eilleen possesses a powerful voice with an impressive range. She has the necessary drive, ambition and positive attitude to achieve her goals".^[14] Campbell happened to be making an album by Canadian musician (and present-day CKTB radio personality) Tim Denis at the time and Twain was featured on the backing vocals of the song Heavy on the Sunshine.^[15][14] Campbell later took Twain to Nashville to record some demos, which Twain found particularly difficult to finance. She became acquainted with regional country singer Mary Bailey who had had some country chart success in 1976. Bailey had seen Twain perform in Sudbury, Ontario, saying "I saw this little girl up on stage with a guitar and it absolutely blew me away. She performed Willie Nelson's "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and Hank Williams' "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry". Her voice reminded me of Tanya Tucker, it had strength and character, a lot of feeling. She's a star, she deserves an opportunity".^[16] Bailey later said "She sang a few songs that she had written, and I thought to myself, this kid is like nineteen years old, where does she get this? This is from a person who's lived sixty years".^[17]

Lake Kenogami where Twain spent much time practicing in 1985.

Bailey acquired the contract from Stan Campbell and Twain moved into Bailey's home on Lake Kenogami where she practiced her music every day for hours. In the fall of 1985, Bailey took Twain down to Nashville to stay with a friend, record producer Tony Migliore, who at the time was producing an album for fellow Canadian singer Kelita Haverland and Twain was featured on the backing vocals to the song Too Hot to Handle. She also demo-ed songs with Cyril Rawson but the demos were without success, partly due to Twain's wish to become a rock singer, not a country artist. After five months she returned to Canada and moved in with Bailey in a flat in downtown Kirkland Lake.^[18]

There she met rock keyboardist Eric Lambier and drummer Randy Yurko and formed a new band, moving three months later to Bowmanville, near Toronto. In late summer 1986 Mary Bailey arranged for Twain to meet John Kim Bell, a half Mohawk, half American conductor who had close contacts with the directors of the Canadian Country Music Association. Bell recognized Twain's ability as well as her looks and the two began secretly dating.^[18] In the fall of 1986 Twain continued to express her desire to be a pop or rock singer rather than country, which led to her falling out with Mary Bailey for two years. Twain's first break finally came on February 8, 1987, when Bell staged a fundraiser for the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation at the Roy Thomson Hall in Toronto where Twain performed with Broadway star Bernadette Peters, jazz guitarist Don Ross, and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Her performance received little acclaim, but it convinced Bell, who hated pop music, that Twain should stay well away from it and concentrate on country music.^[19]

On November 1, 1987, Twain's mother and stepfather died in a car accident approximately 50 kilometres north of Wawa, Ontario.^[20] As a result Twain moved back to Timmins to take care of her younger siblings and then took them all to Huntsville, Ontario. There, she supported them by earning money performing at the nearby Deerhurst Resort.^[21]

[edit] 1993–1994: Shania Twain

A couple of years passed and Twain's siblings got older and moved out on their own. Twain assembled a demo tape of her songs and her Huntsville manager set up a showcase for Twain to present her material to record executives. She caught the attention of a few labels, including Mercury Nashville Records, who signed her within a few months.^[22] During this time, she changed her name to Shania, which was said to be an Ojibwa word which means "on my way". However, Twain's biographer, Robin Eggar, writes: "There is a continuing confusion about what 'Shania' means and if indeed it is an Ojibwe word or phrase at all. [...] There is no mispronounced or misheard phrase in either Ojibwe or Cree that comes close to meaning 'on my way.' Yet the legend of her name continues to be repeated in the media to this day and will doubtless provide the obituary headline when Shania eventually passes on."^[23]

Twain's self-titled debut album was released in 1993 in North America and garnered her audiences outside of Canada. The album only reached No.67 on the US Country Albums Chart, but it gained positive reviews from critics.^[24] The album failed to sell significant copies initially, although Twain's future success generated enough interest for the album to be certified platinum six years later by the RIAA, denoting sales of over a million. The album yielded two minor hit singles in the United States with "What Made You Say That" and "Dance with the One That Brought You". The album was more successful in Europe, where Twain won Country Music Television Europe's "Rising Video Star of the Year" award.^[22]

[edit] 1995–1996: The Woman in Me and her breakthrough

When rock producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange heard Twain's original songs and singing from her debut album, he offered to produce and write songs with her. After many telephone conversations, they met at Nashville's Fan Fair in June 1993. Twain and Lange became very close within just weeks. Lange and Twain either wrote or co-wrote the songs that would form her second studio album, The Woman in Me.^[22][25] Record executives were stunned when they listened to the album. It was unlike anything else in country music.^[26]

The Woman in Me was released in the spring of 1995. The album's first single, "Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?" went to No.11 on the Billboard Country Chart. This was followed by her first Top 10 and No.1 hit single, "Any Man of Mine". Twain had further hits from the album, including the title track which peaked at No.14 and three additional No.1 hits: "(If You're Not in it for Love) I'm Outta Here!", "You Win My Love", and "No One Needs to Know".^[22] As of 2007, it had sold more than 12 million copies.^[27] The album was a quick breakthrough and because of this Twain performed selected international venues and television shows including two CMA Fan Fair performances with Nashville guitarists Randy Thomas (co-writer of the song "Butterfly Kisses"), Dan Schafer,^[28] Chris Rodriguez, Russ Taff, Hugh McDonald bass player of Bon Jovi, Dave Malachowski and Stanley T., formerly with The Beach Boys.

Mercury Nashville's promotion of the album was based largely upon a series of music videos.^[29] During this period, Twain made major television appearances on shows such as two performances on Late Show with David Letterman, Blockbuster Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards and the American Music Awards. The Woman in Me won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album as well as the Academy of Country Music award for Album of the Year; the latter group also awarded Twain as Best New Female Vocalist.

[edit] 1997–2001: Come On Over

Twain performing on the Come on Over Tour in 1999

In 1997, Twain released her follow-up album, Come On Over. This was the album that would establish her as a successful crossover singer. Slowly, the album started racking up sales. It never hit the top spot, but with the multi-chart hit single "You're Still the One", sales skyrocketed. Other songs like "Don't Be Stupid", "You've Got A Way", "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!", "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "From This Moment On" joined the 12 songs that eventually saw release as singles. "From This Moment On" is a duet with singer Bryan White and there was a pop version as well.

The album stayed on the charts for the next two years, going on to sell 40 million copies worldwide, making it the biggest-selling album of all time by a female musician.^[30] It is also the eighth biggest-selling album by any type of artist in the US^[27] and the top selling country album in history. Songs from the album won four Grammy Awards during this time, including Best Country Song and Best Female Country Performance (for "You're Still the One" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!") for Twain. Lange won Grammys for "You're Still the One" and "Come on Over".

Despite the album's record sales it wasn't able to top the Billboard 200, peaking at #2. In 1999, the Come on Over album was remixed for the European market as a pop album with less country instrumentation and actually gave her the big breakthrough in Europe she and her producer husband (Robert John "Mutt" Lange) were looking for. Come on Over went to number 1 on the UK album charts for 11 weeks. It became the biggest selling album of the year in Great Britain and a bestseller in other big European markets as well, selling more than one million copies in Germany and nearly 4 million in the UK alone. The songs that had finally drawn European attention to the album were the pop remixed singles "That Don't Impress Me Much", a No.3 in the UK and Top 10 hit in Germany in the summer of 1999, and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" which peaked at No.3 in both the UK and France in autumn of that year. Additionally, the album set the record for the longest ever stay in the Top 20 of the Billboard 200, remaining in the Top 20 for 99 weeks.

Twain's mainstream pop acceptance was further helped by her appearance in the 1998 first edition of the VH1 Divas concert where she sang alongside Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Aretha Franklin, and also by VH1's 1999 heavily aired Behind the Music, which concentrated on the tragic aspects of her early life as well as her physical attractiveness and Nashville's early resistance to her bare-midriff music videos.

In 1998, Twain launched her first major concert tour, aided by her manager Jon Landau, a veteran of many large-scale tours with Bruce Springsteen. The Come on Over Tour shows was a success and won the "Country Tour of the Year" in 1998 and 1999 by Pollstar Concert Industry Awards.^[31]

In 2000, Twain was initially scheduled to release a Christmas album, but plans to release one were cancelled later in the year.^[32]

Following the success of Come On Over, independent label Limelight Records released The Complete Limelight Sessions in October 2001. The album includes 16 tracks recorded in the late 1980s before Twain signed her record deal with Mercury.

[edit] 2002–2004: Up!

Twain in concert, 2004

After a change in management – QPrime replaced Landau — and a two year break, Twain and Lange returned to the studio. Up! was released on November 19, 2002. About a year later, Twain kicked off the Up! Tour in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada on September 25, 2003.

Up! was released with three different discs – country/acoustic (green CD), pop/rock (red CD), and world/dance (blue CD). Up! was given four out of five stars by Rolling Stone magazine, and debuted at No.1 on the Billboard albums chart, selling 874,000 in the first week alone. It remained at the top of the charts for five weeks. Up! reached No.1 in Germany, No.2 in Australia and the Top Five in the UK and France. In Germany, Up! was certified 4x platinum and stayed in the Top 100 for one and a half years.

The international music disc was remixed with Indian-style orchestral and percussion parts recorded in Mumbai, India. The new versions were produced by Simon and Diamond Duggal, brothers from Birmingham, England. They were originally invited to contribute parts to the pop version of "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" which retained the Indian influence.^[33]

Twain's popularity in UK was reflected by numerous appearances on the long-running music show Top of the Pops, performing singles from Come on Over from 1999. In 2002 an entire special show was dedicated to her on sister show TOTP2, in which Twain herself introduced some past performances of her greatest hits and new singles from Up!

The first single from the album, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good!" became a top 10 country hit in the US, after debuting at No. 24 after only five days of airplay; but only made the Top 40 on the pop charts. It was a much bigger hit on the other side of the Atlantic, released in a pop version, the single hit No.4 in the UK. In Australia, Germany and France the song reached the Top 15 in each case. The follow-up single "Up!" reached the Top 15 in the US country charts but failed to reach the pop Top 40.

The second European single became the mid-tempo song "Ka-Ching!" (which was never released as a single in North America) with lyrics where Twain was criticizing unchecked consumerism. The song eventually became another smash hit in the important European markets, reaching No.1 in Germany and Austria and other European countries, the UK Top 10 and the Top 15 in France. The third single from the album would be the most successful in the US. The romantic ballad "Forever and For Always" was released as a single in April 2003 and peaked at No.4 on the country chart and No.1 on the Adult Contemporary chart, and made as well the Billboard Top 20. Again success was even bigger on the other side of the Atlantic with "Forever and For Always" again reaching the Top 10 in both, the UK and Germany. Further singles were "She's Not Just a Pretty Face" a country Top 10 hit, while the last US single, "It Only Hurts When I'm Breathing", made the Top 20 on both Country and AC.

Due to the enormous European success of Up! and its first three singles, two more singles were released in the second half of 2003 with up-tempo "Thank You Baby" (#11 in the UK, Top 20 in Germany) and just before Christmas the romantic, acoustic ballad "When You Kiss Me", at least a minor hit in both territories. The title track "Up!" also saw a single release in a limited edition of European countries, such as Germany, in early 2004. In January 2008, Up! had sold 5.5 million copies in the U.S. and was certified by the RIAA as 11x platinum (the organization counts double albums as two units).^[27]

In 2003, Twain participated in the Dolly Parton tribute album Just Because I'm a Woman, covering Parton's classic "Coat of Many Colors", with backing vocals by Alison Krauss. The cover peaked at No.57 on the Hot Country Songs charts as an album cut. During the Super Bowl XXXVII halftime show Twain performed two songs, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "Up!"

[edit] 2004–2005: Greatest Hits

Shania Twain, live in Wembley, UK, February 16, 2004

In 2004, she released the Greatest Hits album, with three new tracks. As of 2008, it has sold over four million copies in the U.S.^[27] The first single, the multi-format duet "Party for Two", made the country top ten with Billy Currington, while the pop version with Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath made top ten in the United Kingdom and Germany. The follow-up singles, "Don't!" and "I Ain't No Quitter" did not fare as well. The former made Top 20 on Adult Contemporary, while the latter did not gain enough airplay to crack the Country Top 40.^[34]

In August 2005, she released the single "Shoes" from the Desperate Housewives soundtrack.

2006-2010: New album delays and other projects[link]

At the Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 16, 2007, Twain said she was currently writing songs for a new album, and was doing a "lot of soul searching" and "indulging in the writing."

Twain joined Canadian singer Anne Murray on the song "You Needed Me" on Murray's Anne Murray Duets: Friends and Legends album released November 13, 2007 in Canada, and on January 15, 2008 in the U.S.^[35] On November 12, 2008 Twain made her first television appearance since her split from ex-husband Robert "Mutt" Lange, where she appeared as a surprise presenter at the 42nd CMA Awards.^[36]

In early January 2009, Internet forums were reporting that Twain was planning to make an announcement regarding her new album on January 26, 2009 but on the 22nd a spokesperson from Mercury Nashville told Country Weekly that no new album would be coming "anytime soon".

In June 2009, Twain released a letter to her fans explaining the delays in the release of her next album.^[37] In August 2009, at a conference in Timmins, Ontario, a spokesman for Twain's label said a new record from the singer is still "nowhere in sight".^[38] On August 17, 2009, EW announced that Twain would be a guest judge on American Idol in Chicago, for the show's August 30 and 31 episodes.^[39] On January 1, 2010, Twain carried the Olympic Torch through her hometown as part of the 2010 Winter Olympics torch relay.^[40]

[edit] 2010-present: Why Not? with Shania Twain and return to music

In April 2010, Twain announced plans for her own TV show, entitled Why Not? with Shania Twain. The show debuted on May 8, 2011 on OWN.^[41] Twain returned to American Idol as a guest mentor for a week where the top 6 contestants showcased her songs.^[42] After the conclusion of the ninth season Twain was very close to becoming a judge but ultimately it was Jennifer Lopez who got the job.^[43]

Twain at the Country Music Hall of Fame in June 2011 to announce her headlining at Caesars Palace

More recently, in September 2010, it was confirmed that Twain was to release her first biography, From This Moment On, on May 3, 2011,^[44] and the cover work for the book was released on March 2, 2011.^[45]

On March 27, 2011, Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame. Following her appearance, she revealed that she is writing music and that new music will be heard soon.^[46]

In May 2011, Twain confirmed in an interview with Perez Hilton that she will release her first new single in six years, "Today Is Your Day", after the finale of Why Not? with Shania Twain.^[47] Twain previewed the song in the first episode of the series.^[47] Twain worked with music producers David Foster and Nathan Chapman on the new song.^[48] In the next few months, Twain plans to return to the studio to finish her fifth studio album.^[49] "Today Is Your Day" was officially released to iTunes and country radio on June 12, 2011.^[50]

On June 8, 2011, at a press conference at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Twain announced that she will headline Caesars Palace in Las Vegas for two years.^[50] Her show, titled Still the One, will begin on December 1, 2012.^[50]

In July 2011, fellow Canadian superstar Michael Bublé confirmed in a live video chat with fans that he recorded a duet of 'White Christmas' with Twain for his 2011 Christmas album.^[51]

On February 7, 2012, Lionel Richie's single "Endless Love" featuring Shania Twain was released to digital retailers. The single is the first single from Lionel's "Tuskegee" album released on March 27, 2012. "Endless Love" has been released to radio on the adult contemporary charts. A music video, directed by Paul Boyd, was released to country music channels CMT and GAC in March 2012.

Endorsements and other ventures[link]

Twain's commercial ventures outside the music industry included a series of cosmetic ads in 1999 based on "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" for Revlon. She also starred in ads for Candie's shoes and Gitano jeans, who also sponsored her 1998–1999 Come On Over Tour.

In January 2005, Twain joined Scentstories by Febreze to create a limited edition scent disc with the proceeds going to America's Second Harvest.^[52]

Late in 2005, Twain partnered COTY to produce her namesake fragrance "Shania" by Stetson. A second fragrance was released in September 2007, called "Shania Starlight".^[53]

Personal life[link]

Twain married music producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange on December 28, 1993, and they have a son, Eja (pronounced "Asia") D'Angelo, who was born on August 12, 2001.^[54] On May 15, 2008, a spokesperson for Mercury Nashville announced that Twain and Lange were separating after Lange allegedly had an affair with Twain's best friend, Marie-Anne Thiébaud.^[55][56] Their divorce was finalized on June 9, 2010.^[57] On December 20, 2010, Twain's manager confirmed that Twain was engaged to Swiss Frédéric Thiébaud (the ex-husband of her former best friend), an executive at Nestlé.^[58][59] They married on January 1, 2011 in Rincón, Puerto Rico.^[60]

Twain is a long-time vegetarian^[61] and in 2001, was voted PETA's very first Sexiest Vegetarian Alive.^[62]

Awards and honours[link]

Twain's star on Canada's Walk of Fame

In addition to her various awards for her singles and albums, Twain has received a number of personal honours:

• She was named the 1999 Entertainer of the Year by both the Academy of Country Music and the Country Music Association; Twain was the first non-US citizen to win the CMA award.
• Twain was ranked No.7 in Country Music Television's 40 Greatest Women of Country Music in 2002.^[63]
• In 2003, Twain was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.^[64]
• The city of Timmins (located in Ontario, Canada) renamed a street for her, gave her the key to the city, and built the Shania Twain Centre in her honour.^[65]
• On November 18, 2005, Twain was invested as an Officer in the Order of Canada.^[66][67]
• Twain was inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame at the Juno Awards on March 27, 2011.^{[citation needed]}
• On June 2, 2011, Twain received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her star is the 2,442nd Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Recording.^[64]

Discography[link]

Albums

• 1993: Shania Twain
• 1995: The Woman in Me
• 1997: Come On Over
• 2002: Up!

Compilations

• 2001: The Complete Limelight Sessions
• 2004: Greatest Hits

See also[link]

Shania Twain portal

	Book: Shania Twain
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Music of Canada
• List of best-selling music artists

References[link]