Introduction
From Silence to Center Stage: Shania Twain Opens Up About Lyme Disease and Talks I Still Believe
Few artists command both vocal power and emotional candor quite like Shania Twain. Her journey—from diamond-certified heights to the shadows of uncertainty and back—speaks not only to her resilience, but to the deeper human struggle of facing loss and choosing to rise again. In her reflections on battling Lyme disease and her role in the film I Still Believe, Twain offers a rare glimpse into both her vulnerability and unwavering spirit.
In 2003, at the pinnacle of her career, Twain was struck by a seemingly innocuous horse-ride. A single tick bite would lay the foundation for years of physical and emotional upheaval. As documented in Not Just a Girl, the Netflix biopic of her life, Twain began experiencing frightening dizzy spells, balance issues, and near-blackouts onstage . The debilitating symptoms were later linked to Lyme disease—a diagnosis that, in many ways, threatened to silence her forever.
“I thought I’d lost my voice forever,” Twain shared, recounting how the disease compromised the nerves controlling her vocal cords . She spoke openly about mourning that loss: “I was mourning the expression of my voice,” she said, in one of her first emotional admissions of the ordeal .
Twain’s journey to recovery was long and filled with setbacks. Vocal surgeries, rehabilitation, and a seven-year absence from singing followed . By 2017, she emerged with Now, her first studio album in 15 years, reclaiming her voice even as it now carried a new depth and texture—a voice she embraced fully.
Indeed, Twain acknowledges that while her voice may never be the same, it remains powerful. “I have a different voice now … I’m okay with that. I’ve found a new voice and I like it,” she told People magazine .
Amid this journey of healing, Twain also ventured into acting, taking a role in I Still Believe—a faith-driven romantic drama about singer-songwriter Jeremy Camp. She portrays Camp’s mother and described the film as “about a love that goes beyond fear, that goes beyond any doubt”. The movie, deeply rooted in themes of love, loss, and faith, offers her a poignant companion to her own narrative of endurance.
Together, Twain’s candid reflections and her artistic choices paint a portrait of a woman who refuses to be defined by setback. Her struggle with Lyme disease wasn’t simply a chapter of suffering—it became a testament to survival and reinvention. Bridging the world of music with a moving film role, Shania Twain remains not just an icon of country-pop, but a symbol of strength reclaimed through grace.