I've never been much of a country music fan. In fact, I despise it. That comes from years of having its twangy nonsense forced upon my tender ears whenever I got in a car or had to be anywhere my country fan dad was in need of music. Because of these experiences, I'm forever of the opinion that this music sucks. I do remember the big country stars back in the day though. They tended to fall into fairly predictable categories. The guys were either cowboys or outlaws, the women cowgirls or honky tonk girls. And whoever you were in that limited lot determined what the gist of your country song lyrics were about. Basically, they were either making a woman's life hell, or missing the man who made their life hell. You can see why country was something of a niche genre of music back then.
And then Shania Twain came along. The Canadian princess became a seemingly overnight sensation, thanks to a few things. The first two were her beautiful voice and catchy tunes. And being from Canada, there wasn't any impetus to discuss her husband's stretch in Folsom prison, or the man who shot her then ran off with the cash from the register from the truck stop where she waitressed. Shania's songs were all about love and joy and female empowerment. But maybe the most important factor in Shania's rapid rise to fame was her looks. There simply wasn't anyone in her line who could touch her in that area. Not only was she an angel face, but also kind of a show off, letting out copious amounts of T&A, which even further separated her from the far more demure old school country.
So successful was Shania at changing the whole dynamic of country that now pretty much everyone in that genre is Shania. They might still sing about the occasional bad breakup or deadbeat guy, but they look like fashion models while they do so. Even the guys cleaned up their act by ditching the cowboy duds for designer suits and $300 haircuts. Now it's kinda hard to tell the difference between so-called country and any other popular music. As for Shania, she made the mistake many famous hotties make - she got married. Then it turned out her husband was some kind of a scumbag who cheated on her with her best friend, which ironically made her real life reminiscent of those old country songs. Later on Shania married the former husband of her best friend who her husband cheated with - something those old country singers could never have dreamed up.
Real life country dramas aside, I think it could be argued that there probably wouldn't be a Taylor Swift, or a Carrie Underwood, or a Miranda Lambert, had Shania not paved the way for them back in her heyday. They all owe her a debt of gratitude. Speaking of Shania's heydays, check out some choice photo selections, illustrating why everyone went nuts for her back in the day.
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I agree 100% with the premise above. I think Shania's influence on the entire country music scene is VASTLY underestimated. She really brought it into the "video age" and made it more accessible and intriguing to people who didn't consider themselves country fans (myself included). She was just enough country, just enough rock, and more than enough sex appeal to capture a market previously-untapped by the industry. Both men and women fell under her spell, sometimes for slightly different reasons, and the tired old country music industry was forced to reckon with her unparalleled success despite her refusal to be bound by the old Nashville rules. Of course hindsight, as they say, is 50/50, but I have to agree that her marrying a mutt was the one bad career move she made. The subsequent years weren't the same, and then the unfortunate collapse of her marriage further damaged her self-confidence (for a while, at least). Everyone was on her side but she just wasn't singing anymore, and (understandably) seemed to have lost her mojo.
Since Shania's breakthrough, country music production values have caught up with the rest of the music industry, country singers no longer feel they have to look like farmers' daughters or scruffy outlaws, and the music itself has become more diverse as it incorporates elements of other genres -- all thanks to the influence of Shania Twain... and her magnificent midriff.
