Shania Twain found a stronger sense of self-love while breaking into the music world for a second time, which empowered her to make the bold and “liberating” move of posing topless for her new single, Waking Up Dreaming.
“This is me expressing my truth. I’m comfortable in my own skin,” she admitted to PEOPLE. “And this is the way I am sharing that confidence.
The five-time Grammy winner dropped the single in September. It marked her first major work since Lyme disease symptoms took her off the stage for nearly a decade. Waking Up Dreaming comes from her upcoming sixth studio album, which releases on February 3, 2023.
For the cover art, Twain wore only a satin wrap around her waist, knee-high pink and white boots, and a suede cowboy hat. She wore the look with “confidence,” and she believes that “wearing” anything “with that” makes it “fashionable.”
Moreover, Shania Twain has worked hard to stay healthy and fit. And she’s not scared to admit that she’s proud of how she’s aging.
“I am a woman in my late 50s,” she continued. “And I don’t need to hide behind the clothes. I can’t even tell you how good it felt to do the nude shooting. I was just so unashamed of my new body, you know, as a woman that is well into my menopause. I’m not even emotional about it; I just feel okay about it. It’s really liberating.”
Shania Twain is ‘Embracing’ Her Changing Body
The country music superstar has made it a point to stand tall and break boundaries since the start of her career, however. As a teenager and young woman, she said she struggled to accept herself and her body. So bearing all has been a way of conquering fears.
Her debut album, What Made You Say That, also featured a risqué photo of Twain bra-less in a midriff. And she never shied away from sex appeal in music videos or magazine spreads.
“From the very beginning — the very first video — I was ditching the bra. But, I was a lot firmer then,” she said. “So as I grew older, I started feeling a different pressure of, ‘Well, your breasts are not as plump as they used to be. Your skin is not as tight as it used to be. Maybe you should start covering it up a little bit more.'”
When those thoughts began circulating in her mind, she realized she needed to smash them. So she forced herself to stay strong. And now she’s committed to highlighting her new, deeper sense of confidence through self-directed artwork.
“I hit this wall and was like, ‘Whoa, my confidence is regressing. My courage is dulling. Why am I allowing this? Frig that. I am not regressing,” Twain added. “I am embracing my body as it changes, as I should have from my childhood to my teens, as I should be from my taut, 20s and 30-year-old self, to my menopausal body. I’m not going to be shy about it.”
