Shania Twain has made waves in recent weeks with her outspoken support of body positivity and the self-love movement. Now, the country superstar is opening up about her admiration for drag queens, revealing that she's found inspiration in drag performance since she was a young woman.
"First of all, it takes a lot of courage," the country legend said about drag in a Feb. 23 interview with GLAAD. "I mean, fashion in itself takes courage. You're taking on a lot."
Twain has previously stated that she draws inspiration from the LGBTQ+ community, and that she adores going to drag shows. The Grammy-winner famously served as a guest judge on RuPaul's Drag Race in 2018, where contestants performed her 1997 classic "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" as she cheered them on.
"The ability to put their own makeup on and do such a beautiful job... I've learned a lot from drag queens," said Twain, adding that she pulls ideas from drag performance when styling her own looks. "I watched their tutorials because no, I've never seen such transformation in some of these talents that their faces go through. It's very impressive and their fashion, I don't know, I'm very inspired by it."
In her 2011 memoir From This Moment On, Twain got candid about the ways in which the LGBTQ+ community has inspired her stage presence and her portrayal of femininity.
"Being inexperienced at applying makeup, I marveled at how artistic and glamorous some of the men were," she wrote about the drag performers she encountered at gay bars in her youth. "My fascination with this initial introduction to men transforming themselves into beautiful women likely sowed the seed of inspiration for a song I would write years later: 'Man! I Feel Like a Woman.'"
More than a decade later, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" remains an all-time-great girl anthem. And Twain is keen to recognize the drag performers who inspired so much of her creative endeavors.
"I think we need this inspiration; we need drag queens to share their talent with us," said Twain.
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Tickets are on sale now for Twain's "Queen of Me" tour, kicking off April 15 at the Tortuga Music Festival in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
