Shania Twain was still hoping to work with Prince before he died.
The ‘You’re Still The One’ hitmaker was invited by the late ‘Purple Rain’ hitmaker to his Paisley Park estate to make an album produced by him in the vein of Fleetwood Mac’s 1997 ‘Rumors’ record amid her split from her first husband, Robert John ‘Mutt’ Lange, who is also produced and co-wrote some of her music.
However, Shania’s insecurities about her voice and the fact Prince didn’t allow swearing stopped her from accepting the offer.
In an interview with Zane Lowe on Apple Music 1, she recalled: “I missed out on that because Prince called me when I got divorced. We’re on the phone and he said, ‘Shania, why don’t you come to Paisley Park? I want to make the next Rumors album with you.’ And that was the weirdest thing he could have ever have said, because his standard of what he thought, where I could live as a standard was that album, Rumors album. And he said that to me. So when Prince said that to me, I’m like, oh man, I’m not even divorced yet. I’m just like, I’ve been dumped, but I’m not, obviously, divorced yet. I’m like, this is way too ironic what you’re saying. Right? And I’m such a major Prince fan. And then on top of it, I hadn’t found my voice yet, I was still working on it. I was so far from finding it still. I was writing, but I was too insecure to go and get with Prince in the studio. I was too insecure, in every way.”
Despite not being ready, Shania didn’t give up hope that she would one day get to work with the music legend, but he sadly passed away in 2017, aged 57.
She continued: “Plus, I’m on the phone with him and I’m swearing like I always do. He said to me, ‘Well, if you do decide to come to Paisley Park, there’s no swearing allowed here.’ So that was another strike. I’m like, oh no, I love you so much, but I don’t think I could get through writing and recording an album without swearing, somewhere along the way! What are you going to do to me if I swear? I might have to stand in the corner or something. I wasn’t sure about that. I don’t think I was ready for what all that was going to mean for me. I didn’t give up on it or anything, but then he died.”
Shania, 59, split from Robert in 2008 and the pair were divorced by 2010. The country pop star has been married to business executive Frédéric Thiébaud since 2011.
Watch the full interview now via https://youtu.be/GeMBCi4dN04 or listen on Apple Music 1.