Shania Twain's Heartfelt Message to LGBTQ Fans Leaves Audience In Tears
By Brian Anthony Hernandez | Billboard | August 25, 2017
Repeat after Shania Twain: “I'm alive. I'm going to be OK. I'm alright.” That’s the simple yet powerful message she wants her LGBTQ fans to tell themselves during their ongoing crusade for equal rights.
“It's so difficult to face your fears and I think a lot of people in this day and age are hopefully getting more comfortable with who they are and who are they are in their own skin,” Twain, 51, added when Billboard asked her to address her gay fan base during a recent interview at Spotify HQ in New York City this month.
“That’s everything. Just facing your fears, carrying on, moving on and being grateful that you lived through it because we have to look at the others who don’t make it to the other side and be grateful that we have,” she continued. “Gratitude is important.” Watch Twain's message in the video above, courtesy UMG.
The message touched a few fans, who cried or got teary-eyed at the intimate event, which was a listening session for Twain’s long-awaited comeback album titled Now. That fifth studio album, her first studio album since 2002’s Up!, arrives on Sept. 29.
Twain’s songs, music videos and overall persona have struck a chord with the LGBTQ community for decades. Look no further than the impact of “Man! I Feel Like a Woman” from 1997’s Come On Over, still the second best-selling album of the Nielsen era (1991-present).
“It's not only girl power, it's gay power. I think that song really stands for both,” Twain once said in a 2004 interview published in The Advocate.
And when the Supreme Court declared the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional in 2013, Twain celebrated right along with the LGBTQ community, as evidenced by this tweet:
For more emotional moments from the Spotify event, where Twain shocked fans by making a surprise appearance at the end of the listening session, watch this Facebook video below: