Mercury NashvilleShania Twain‘s long-awaited new album, NOW, is due September 29, and it’s her first collection of new material since Up!, 15 years ago.  The Canadian diva worked with a number of producers on this project, but if things had gone differently, it would’ve been produced by none other than rock-and-roll legend Prince.

One reason Shania’s new album has taken so long is because since the release of Up!, she divorced her husband — who was also her producer and main collaborator — and struggled with dysphonia, an ailment that made it nearly impossible to sing. 

“The very first producer that called me, who reached out to me before I’d even written the album — I was writing all the time but I hadn’t started writing for the album…I get a call from Prince,” Shania told reporters in Nashville this week.

“And Prince and I — we had a few conversations, we emailed each other,” she added. “We exchanged [notes] on email for…months.”

Ultimately, Shania admits she let the opportunity pass her by.

“When he was calling me and mailing me, I wasn’t ready to do the album,” she revealed. “He said, ‘Come to my studio, let’s get started,’ and I just said, ‘I can’t sing right now, I just don’t have my voice yet.’  And I never did it.”

When she finally was ready, Shania says, Prince was on tour, and they never reconnected. Now, of course, with the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s death, the collaboration will never happen.

Says Shania, “It’s like, if I ever had, you know, professional regret, that is definitely one of them.”

Shania new single “Life’s About to Get Good” is available to stream or download today.

Copyright © 2017, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

Comments

comments