Watch CBS News

Shania Twain To Receive Star On Hollywood Walk Of Fame

HOLLYWOOD (CBS) — Shania Twain, the top-selling female country artist of all time, is scheduled to receive the 2,442nd star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Thursday.

Born Eilleen Regina Edwards on Aug. 28, 1965, in Windsor, Ontario, she and her two sisters were adopted by her mother's second husband, Jerry Twain, who legally changed their last names to Twain.

Twain began singing in bars when she was 8 years old to help her impoverished family make ends meet. When she was 13, she performed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. television series the "Tommy Hunter Show." She performed with several bands both before and after graduating from high school.

Her mother and stepfather's deaths in a car accident in 1987 prompted her to return to her hometown of Timmins, Ontario, to care for her younger siblings.

Twain changed her first name to Shania, an Ojibwa word which means "on my way," in the early 1990s. She released a self-titled debut album in 1993 that reached 67th on the U.S. country album charts.

Twain became a star thanks to her second album, "The Women In Me," released in 1995, which unlike her first, included songs she wrote herself. It went on to sell more than 12 million copies, breaking the record previously held by "Patsy Cline's Greatest Hits," and winning a Grammy Award in 1996 for best country album.

Twain's third album, "Come on Over," released in 1997, sold 20 million copies in the U.S., the most by a woman in any genre of music.

Twain's other Grammys are for best country song in 1998 and 1999 for "You're Still The One" and "Come On Over" and best female country vocal performance for "You're Still The One" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" also in 1998 and 1999.

(©2011 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.