NEWSShania Twain 'Grew Up Really Quickly' Since Her Mom Was 'Not Always Able to Care for' Singer and Her Siblings Due to Depression
Shania Twain revealed she 'was one of the adults' growing up.
July 29 2026, Updated 1:33 p.m. ET
Shania Twain got candid about her tough upbringing in a new interview.
The singer dished on her new album, Little Miss Twain, revealing some of the songs share stories "that nobody knows" about, such as becoming a parental figure for her siblings.
'I Was One of the Adults'
Shania Twain had to take care of her siblings when their mom struggled with depression.
"I grew up really quickly. We didn’t always have money to pay the bills," she revealed to People. "I was one of the adults: getting the kids to school, making meals out of nothing — whatever was left in jars, like ketchup sandwiches — and trying to support my mother through her depression and not being able to feed us or not being able to keep us warm in the winter."
The Canadian star, 60, clarified she "was a wonderful mother, but she couldn’t cope with not always being able to care for us the way she believed we should be cared for."
"My music was her lifeline a lot of the time," Twain added. "It gave her hope that we could maybe become the Beverly Hillbillies."
The singer said her family often struggled with money.
Those duties only intensified after her mother and stepdad died in a car accident when she was 22.
"I had to learn how to be brave really early on and not crumble," the "That Don't Impress Me Much" crooner recalled, adding she's experienced a few "devastating" challenges over the years.
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'Fear Fuels Me'
Shania Twain doesn't find it difficult to look back on her hardships.
Twain has also faced hardships well into her adults years, including her infamous divorce from Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who cheated on the Canadian star with her friend Marie-Anne Thiébaud. However, she wound up finding love with the man Thiébaud split from, Frédéric Thiébaud.
"I’ve gotten through difficult times by being capable of finding courage, being brave and pushing through the fear. Fear fuels me," she insisted.
Shania noted she's spent all of her life "processing the challenges" she's experienced, noting, "I’m at a place where I really enjoy looking back on it with a smile."
Shania Twain's Mom Had 'Big Dreams' for Her
Shania Twain's mom had hoped she would become a child star.
The songwriter revealed the importance of having Tanya Tucker work on her fresh tunes with her, noting her late mom "believed" Shania could take after Tanya's child stardom as a country singer.
Said the "Man! I Feel Like a Woman" vocalist, "Tanya understood that my mother had big dreams for me and that they were coming true in such a literal way in that moment of recording with her."
