Shania Twain is in her fearless era.
The country-pop diva talked about embracing menopause and why she’s proud to be flaunting more than ever in an interview with the New York Post’s Alexa magazine published Wednesday.
Twain ― a five-time Grammy winner with a number of hits to her name, including “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” ― described the experience as a rewarding challenge.
“I think menopause was a very good thing for me because there were a lot more things changing in everything about me physically that I had to very quickly come to terms with,” Twain, 58, said.
“Menopause taught me to quickly say, ‘You know, it may only get worse. So just love yourself now. Just get over your insecurities — they’re standing in your way. And fear is standing in your way,’” she explained.
“I always sing about being fearless and all of that. I go there when I write. But I’m not living it the way I’m writing it. And I want to live the way I write. I’m more fierce than I ever was because I really demanded it about myself.”
That new outlook inspired Twain to bare her soul, and more, for the cover of her single “Waking Up Dreaming,” which came out last year.
Talking about her topless, Western-themed photo shoot, she said: “I think I needed to capture where I am right now, because it’s a moment that I want to remember.”
“So I just had to be brave about it, to own it,” she said. “And I felt really good that I felt like, ‘Yeah, I’m OK with that.’ I need to be able to look at myself in the mirror every day. I’m perfectly the way I should be. This is the way I should be at my age. I’m fine with it. And I’m not afraid of it anymore. It’s all good.”
The Canadian singer-songwriter struck a similar tone around the time of the song’s release last year.
“I am a woman in my late 50s, and I don’t need to hide behind the clothes,” she told People magazine. “I can’t even tell you how good it felt to do nude shooting.”
“I was just so unashamed of my new body, you know, as a woman that is well into my menopause,” she said. “I’m not even emotional about it; I just feel okay about it. It’s really liberating.”