Shania Twain is the best selling female artist in country music history. The Canadian singer and songwriter has a star on Canada's Walk of Fame and the Hollywood Walk of Fame, she's won multiple Grammy Awards, and is the only female artist with three consecutive studio albums certified Diamond by the RIAA. The woman is a powerhouse, but that doesn't mean that she hasn't experienced heartbreak. When she found love with her first husband Mutt Lange, she thought she had found the one she would be with forever.
Videos by Wide Open Country
Twain met record producer Robert John "Mutt" Lange at the beginning of her career. "Mutt" was impressed when he heard Twain's first album for the first time and offered to work with her. The pair hit it off immediately professionally, which quickly turned personal as well.
Marriage to Mutt Lange
Photo by Gareth Davies/Getty Images
Twain and Lange tied the knot in 1993, later welcoming son Eja in 2001. It seemed that all was well in the world. The country star released hit records The Woman In Me, Come On Over, and Up! and performed at massive stadium tours around the country. They had a family together and from the outside, looked like they had the ideal life. But, behind the scenes, Robert "Mutt" Lange was allegedly not faithful.
As if having an affair isn't bad enough, Lange is said to have cheated with Twain's best friend and personal assistant, Marie-Anne Thiébaud. The worst part? The country singer was never even given an explanation. It was Marie-Anne's husband, Frédéric Thiébaud, who initially gave the bad news to Twain. Can you imagine hearing news like that but you don't even get to hear it from the source himself? The superstar's first run-in with her ex-friend afterward didn't go well. Understandable. Twain even sent pleading emails begging Marie-Anne to love anyone other than her ex-husband.
In the 2022 Netflix documentary, Not Just a Girl, Twain reflected on the intense grief she experienced over the end of her first marriage, calling it "a permanent end to so many facets of my life."
On top of everything else she was dealing with, Twain was also battling Lyme disease, which caused extreme dizziness and blackouts and also impacted her voice.
"In that search to determine what was causing this lack of control with my voice and this change in my voice, I was facing a divorce. My husband leaves me for another woman," Twain said in the documentary. "Now I'm at a whole other low. And I just don't see any point in going on with a music career."
But in a miraculous twist of fate, the "That Don't Impress Me Much" singer and Thiébaud bonded over their mutual pain. That pain turned into an unexpected start to their own love story. Her life was officially starting over with a new leading man, most likely the last person anyone would actually expect her to end up with. But life is funny that way, and they really did find something special together.
"I didn't want to love again-it was the last thing on my mind," she told People. "It's just amazing how life works."
Who is Shania Twain's Husband Frédéric Thiébaud?
Photo by Thomas Niedermueller/Getty Images for ZFF
Shania Twain married Frédéric Thiébaud on Jan. 1, 2011, in Rincón, Puerto Rico. The paparazzi snag pics of the happy couple now and again and they couldn't look better together. While they currently split time between the Bahamas and Switzerland (Thiébaud is a Swiss Nestlé executive), Twain's career is still on fire. Finding a second chance at love must have triggered something in the country star that made her want to get back to music. Following her marriage, she released her first song in 6 years, "Today Is Your Day." She also released an autobiography, From This Moment On, and kicked off a Las Vegas residency. In 2017, she released her most recent album, Now, which features songs about finding love after heartache. She's set to release Queen of Me in 2023.
Twain is thrilled in her second act, and fans are thrilled for her. "My closest friends and family say they haven't seen me this free-spirited and happy in years," she says. "And it's true. It's definitely true."
READ MORE: Ryan Reynolds Reacts to Shania Twain's Shout Out at People's Choice Awards: 'Best Thing That's Ever Happened to Me'
