About the song
For years, Shania Twain was the picture of success — a global superstar whose songs like You’re Still the One, From This Moment On, and Man! I Feel Like a Woman! made her one of the best-selling artists in music history. But behind the fame and glamour, the country-pop icon was hiding unimaginable heartbreak. In a rare and emotional confession, Twain has finally opened up about the affair that shattered her marriage and changed her life forever.
Twain married producer Robert “Mutt” Lange in 1993. Together, they created some of the most defining records of the 1990s, selling over 100 million albums worldwide. Their love story seemed unstoppable — a perfect blend of music and passion. But in 2008, everything fell apart when Twain discovered that Lange had been having an affair with her close friend and personal assistant, Marie-Anne Thiébaud.
“It was like death,” Twain recalled in her Netflix documentary Not Just a Girl. “The shock was so intense. I felt completely broken — not just because of the betrayal, but because I lost two people I trusted most in the world.”
The betrayal left Twain reeling. Already struggling with Lyme disease, which had damaged her vocal cords, she suddenly found herself unable to sing — or even to speak about what had happened. “I thought I’d never sing again,” she admitted. “Music had always been my safe place, and when that was taken away by the pain, I didn’t know who I was anymore.”
For years, she withdrew from the spotlight, focusing on healing and raising her son, Eja. But in a twist worthy of a country song, comfort came from an unlikely source — Frédéric Thiébaud, the ex-husband of her friend Marie-Anne. Both had been betrayed by the same people, and through shared grief, a deep bond formed. “We leaned on each other,” Twain said. “We understood each other’s pain without having to explain it.” The two later fell in love and married in 2011.
Despite the heartbreak, Twain says forgiveness became her greatest act of freedom. “I don’t hate Mutt for what he did,” she told People magazine. “It was his mistake, not mine. Holding onto anger would only keep me stuck in the past. I had to let it go to move forward.”
That strength would lead to one of the most powerful comebacks in modern music. Her 2017 album Now was her first in 15 years — a deeply personal project she wrote entirely herself. “It’s about independence,” she explained. “It’s about surviving, rebuilding, and rediscovering who I am.”
Today, at 59, Shania Twain has turned pain into power. The woman who once thought she’d never sing again now headlines world tours, mentors new artists, and shares her story with honesty and grace. “You can lose everything,” she said, “but you can still rise again — stronger, wiser, and more yourself than ever before.”
