Shania Twain isn’t afraid to break down barriers when it comes to music and gender. In fact, the 57-year-old musician paved the way for pop-country music back in the ’90s and led the way for female country artists to have control in an industry dominated by men.
Now the star is tearing down boundaries when it comes to her changing body. In the cover art for her new album Queen of Me which drops February 3, the 57-year-old is letting it all hang out. Yes, the “Queen of Country Pop” is embracing her “menopausal body” and hopes to inspire other women to do the same.
In a recent interview with PEOPLE, Twain opened up about how she is “unashamed” of her new body. However, she hasn’t always had a positive body image. When the musician was just a teenager, she did everything possible to hide her body because she “didn’t feel good about becoming a woman.”
Although Twain was very self-conscious about her body as a teenager, she was able to break out of her shell when she did her first music video, “What Made You Say That?” The musician ditched her bra and even showed off her midriff. It was a look that made waves in country music and helped to make Twain a household name.
Confident and Comfortable In Her Menopausal Body
But as the best-selling female artist in country music history entered midlife, she felt herself “regressing.” Thankfully, she quickly embraced menopause and decided to celebrate her changing body. As Twain said, “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.”
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One way Twain is sharing her body positivity with the world is through the cover for her new album. As the award-winning musician explained, “This is me expressing my truth. I’m comfortable in my own skin, and this is the way I am sharing that confidence.”
As the musician celebrates her body, she hopes other women will do the same. “Other women that are aging, or any women – even if you’re 12 and you’re developing – you shouldn’t feel like you need to hide behind your fear or your self-conscious shield,” she remarked. “But you have to do it within your own sense of what is right and good, and safe for you and your own well-being.”