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30 Years Ago, ‘The Woman in Me’ Launched a Global Country Superstar

Revisiting Shania Twain’s career-defining sophomore album.

By Jennifer Mashuga | Parade | March 26, 2026

Key Points

• "The Woman in Me" made Shania Twain an international star and sold 4 million in 1995.
• Twain became the first female country artist with a diamond album after surpassing 10 million sales.
• “It also knocked out all the naysayers and gave me more creative freedom from then on.”

On March 26, 1996, Shania Twain‘s second album, The Woman in Me, sat at No. 1 on the U.S. country charts and No. 5 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. A departure from the more traditional country sound of her debut album, it marked her first collaboration with producer Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who was also her then-husband.

The album, released on February 7, 1995, was a turning point in Twain’s career and propelled her to international attention. The Woman in Me ended up selling 4 million copies by the end of the year, becoming 1995’s top-selling country album. The following year saw more acclaim, when Twain earned her first Grammy Award for Best Country Album. Of the eight songs that were released, four of them reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart: “Any Man of Mine,” “(If You’re Not in It for Love) I’m Outta Here!,” “You Win My Love,” and “No One Needs to Know.”

On November 17, 1997, Twain became the first female country artist to have an album awarded diamond certification, after The Woman in Me sold more than 10 million copies. By 2000, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) had awarded it 12x Platinum certification, when sales reached 12 million.

“The fact that it went Diamond was a personal achievement for me because a lot of those songs had been rejected earlier on in my career, by other producers and A&R departments,” Twain explained to Official Charts in 2020. “I felt a bit of a ‘I told ya so!’ It was very satisfying, I have to admit.”

1997 saw the release of her third album, Come on Over, which surpassed The Woman in Me with more than 40 million copies sold worldwide. Eventually, it even received double diamond certification. Still, her sophomore album will always hold a special place for Twain, as the moment her career changed.

“The Woman In Me was the big deal of my recording career as a songwriter,” she continued. “From then on, I would write or co-write all my albums. It set the bar for me as far as what I wanted to continue doing [and] it put a healthy pressure on me. It also knocked out all the naysayers and gave me more creative freedom from then on.”

https://parade.com/news/shania-twain-the-woman-in-me-made-her-a-superstar