Shania Twain Reveals the Reason She Changed Her Name
Here's the story behind superstar Eilleen Regina Edwards ...
Her name is famous all around the world, and many could hum a few bars from her biggest hits after just the first half. But Shania Twain isn’t her name at all.
Actually, the record setting ’90s country icon was born with a different name altogether, and invented her famous moniker out of thin air. And now, she’s opened up about how it happened.
Chatting as part of her Home Now Radio on Apple Music Hits, Twain spent time this week digging deep into a number of topics — from her checklist approach to writing hit songs to her enduring crush on Eagles member Don Henley. And somewhere in the middle, she explained who “Shania Twain” is, and how she was created.
“A lot of celebrities are born with a different name than they end up with as a stage name, and I’m one of those people,” the global star admitted. “It’s actually a long story. In short, I was born Eilleen Regina Edwards, and then I was adopted and I became Eilleen Regina Twain. Then I became a professional singer and I needed a stage name that sounded a little less like my grandmother’s name, because I’m named after my grandmother, both my grandmothers, Eilleen and Regina.
“I think, in my mind, I was just not really wanting to be called my grandmother’s name onstage, so I decided to change it to Shania Twain,” she went on. “I met somebody with the name Shania, thought it was beautiful, and Shania Twain was born.”
Today, it’s hard to imagine songs like “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!,” “Come On Over” or “That Don’t Impress Me Much” as sung by the country icon “Eilleen Edwards,” but that’s the real truth. Who knows how things would be different if she’d never created that iconic stage persona — or if we’d even know her at all. But hypotheticals aside, Shania Twain is hardly the only country star with a fake name.
Here’s a few with the name their mama gave them — see if you can find any more!
Luke Bryan (real name Thomas Luther Bryan). Tim McGraw (Samuel Timothy McGraw). Faith Hill (Audrey Faith Perry). Garth Brooks (Troyal Garth Brooks). Thomas Rhett (Thomas Rhett Akins). Jason Aldean (Jason Aldine Williams).
