Shania Twain recently opened up on the candid advice she shared with Jon Bon Jovi ahead of his vocal surgery via PEOPLE.
Twain underwent a vocal fold medialization procedure in 2018 after nerve damage caused by Lyme disease. She noted how she and Bon Jovi first connected and how she later guided him through the decision to pursue the same operation.
“The first time I met Jon Bon Jovi, we were on an international flight going to Europe somewhere and we just bumped into each other in the aisle and he said, ‘Shania, it’s really cool to meet you. I’ve heard that you have the reputation of being the hardest-working artist in the industry. I have the same reputation. Nice to meet you,’” Twain said. “I think he felt already early on that we had something in common.”
She then explained how Bon Jovi reached out to her when he began experiencing similar nerve-related vocal problems.
“And then he was going through laryngeal nerve problems and I had already been through that due to Lyme disease, and he just called me up and said, ‘Share everything you know about how you got back singing live after nerve atrophy in the voice,’” she continued.
“I shared my surgeon’s information with him, my experience with him, and I encouraged him to weigh up all the scenarios. I told him that it worked for me, and that I was honest. I think he really appreciated that, was able to take it all on board.”
Twain was open about the lasting changes the surgery brought to her own voice, as well as the risks she warned Bon Jovi about.
“My voice has never been the same. I’m way more gravelly. I have this rasp. I have more character. I do sing in different placements, but I can sing,” she said. “And I told him the surgery was scary. It’s an open throat surgery and you have to be awake for the surgery.”
She talked about the frank warning she gave him before he made his decision.
“I said, ‘I just have to be honest with you because if you’re going into this, you might as well hear it from somebody who’s been through it. I’m not sure if any other singers have been through this surgery other than the two of us. Is the voice ever going to recover properly? You don’t know. You’re jumping into it. You have to be brave and you have to make a choice,’” Twain said.
Twain described the mindset that led her to go through with the procedure.
“I either never sing again, I’ll never be able to cope with any live show of an hour and a half, two hours of singing live — or I get the operation and I just take the chance. What do I have to lose? And I decided to go for it,” she said. “And like I said, it’s different. I embrace it. I’m grateful that I can sing, I can hold a note, and I can do it loud and I can be loud and proud. Queen of Me is me really coming into my own. It is. I am in charge again — my confidence is rebuilt.”
