Shania Twain stood out the most of anyone with a front-row seat, aside from maybe The Rock, during the 2023 Grammy Awards broadcast. More than her pigtailed red hairdo and pre-show-stealing outfit contributed to this. Of Twain's new music, only "Not Just a Girl's" release happened during the Oct. 1, 2021 - Sept. 30, 2022 window for eligibility. So, she was there as a presenter and captivated fan. Throughout the night, she was caught on camera while gleefully applauding the accomplishments of Harry Styles and other popular music supernovas.
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Photos from the evening further chronicle Twain's big night out and show her mingling with Joe Jonas, Stevie Wonder, Brandi Carlile and Coldplay's Chris Martin. In each shot, Twain comes across as a people person who wasn't robotically hobnobbing with the music industry elite.
Five additional encounters from the evening got us thinking about how Twain could either revisit her most recent material or pen new songs for cross-genre dream collaborations with some of the Grammy's special guests and big winners. Read on for a few special requests for Twain.
LL Cool J
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A creative bridge between early hip-hop MCs and the rap megastars that shared the '90s spotlight with Twain, LL Cool J could offer something to country music that'd easily overshadow the mistake that was Brad Paisley's "Accidental Racist." Imagine a remix of "Queen of Me" with LL Cool J serving up a new, rapid-fire verse of affirmation for every free spirit out there -- one that'd come fresh off the rap legend's masterful performance during the Grammy's celebration of hip-hop's 50th anniversary.
Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac
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Even with former producer and songwriting collaborator Mutt Lange's ties to seminal works by AC/DC and Def Leppard, Twain didn't lean nearly as far into classic rock influences as many of her '90s country peers. If she were to shoot for something brand new that's rawer and bluesier than anything on Queen of Me, who better to scuff Twain's pop edges -- without overshadowing her memorable melodies -- than Fleetwood Mac drummer and co-founder Mick Fleetwood? In the spirit of this year's Grammys, let's go a step further and recruit Bonnie Raitt and Willie Nelson for our all-star band.
Adele
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Out of everything in her growing catalog as a recording artist and songwriter, Twain's "Last Day of Summer" would be the easiest to slightly rearrange into a global Adele hit. As-is, the chorus sets up flawlessly for a Twain and Adele duet that'd likely land the former her first Grammy nomination since 2000. It wouldn't be the first country crossover moment for Adele, following her version of "Easy on Me" that featured 2023 Grammy performer and nominee Chris Stapleton.
Kim Petras and Sam Smith
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In a genre where transgender and nonbinary artists receive little to no mainstream traction and major awards get divided into antiquated "male" and "female" categories, it would be groundbreaking for Twain to lend her voice and star power to a Kim Petras and Sam Smith collaboration. Twain writing a song with her friends in mind would equal someone in her position putting in the work toward meaningful change, but really, more ears would hear a version of "Unholy" featuring the country legend as a guest vocalist. The song's Best Pop Duo/Group Performance win made Petras the first trans woman to share that award. She became just the second trans woman to win a Grammy. Electronic music pioneer Wendy Carlos, who'd later come out as trans, took home three awards in 1970 for her album Switched-On Bach.
Beyonce?
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For this dream team to approach its potential, we'll need more than one song. Twain taking an awards show stage for a revision of Beyonce?'s grandest display of her Texas roots, "Daddy Lessons," or an even more fiery duet of Twain's "Pretty Liar" would be a fulfilling enough first taste, but there needs to be a triple album -- and it should be the first volume of a series. Seriously, the possibilities are just about endless.
