Country music icon Shania Twain has got candid about her childhood experiences. As reported by Page Six, she revealed she grew up in a "very violent" home.
The singer, now 60, opened up on an episode of NPR's Wild Card with Rachel Martin. She explained that her and her two sisters, Jill and Carrie Ann, had witnessed lots of fights between their parents, Sharon and Jerry Twain.
"They loved each other. They went through so many ups and downs together, but they fought a lot, and they got violent often," she recalled.
When asked whether the violence also extended to her and her sisters, Twain responded, "Yeah, with me too. If I was standing in the wrong place at the wrong time, definitely."
She continued, "I mean, both my parents were pretty harsh physically. We definitely got smacked around a lot, and kicked around sometimes, literally kicked around."
But, the country music icon explained that her parents "hurt each other the most" rather than them. "It was very violent. So my mom, you know, she would lose clumps of hair. She was bruised often in the face, and... it was pretty bad sometimes," Twain recalled. "I mean, our house would shake - those walls would shake."
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The Country Music Icon Described it as "Traumatic"
Twain described the fighting in her childhood as "traumatic", remembering it as "loud and scary, like a really bad thunderstorm."
She said that her parents' relationship was a "cycle". "My mother did often try to leave," she recalled. "She did leave - we did leave - but he'd always find us, or she'd always give in and go back."
The country music icon has also spoken out in the past about her childhood. As reported by the New York Post, in 2023, she explained some pretty heavy stuff in an interview.
Shania Twain was discussing her cover art in her album Queen of Me. "It's a way of really about saying, listen, I was abused when I was a kid, my father would fondle me up on the top and make me go without a shirt, and I was already maturing," she explained.
This article discusses themes of abuse and trauma. If you or someone you know is facing mental health struggles, emotional distress, or just needs someone to talk to, call or text 988. Alternatively, chat via 988lifeline.org 24/7.
