Shania Twain recalls how she regained her will to sing

Singer Shania Twain says that besides leaving a permanent scar on her neck, Lyme disease has changed her voice forever.

The 52-year-old singer, who was diagnosed with the condition in 2003, made a comeback recently after a hiatus of 15 years.

Opening up on how the disease (caused by bacterial infection from a tick bite), altered her life, she says, “Does my voice sound deeper? It does, though, doesn’t it?”

In an interview with The Mirror newspaper, Twain, a major country music star, says that when she was diagnosed, she had feared that she wouldn’t be able to sing again, but she was lucky to get treatment so quickly. “It was nerve damage from Lyme disease. I saw a tick fall off me and I got treated right away, otherwise the damage would have been a lot more extensive,” she says. “I was on tour, and I almost fell off the stage every night because I was so dizzy. I felt lucky when I found out the cause, because the disease can go to your brain or heart.”

Twain says that she decided to launch a comeback seven years into her hiatus. “I started writing more intently and I realised that some parts of my voice were still there. It’s been a long process, and now surgery,” adds the singer.

She launched her comeback album, titled Now, last year and describes the songwriting process as “a diary entry”.

“Songwriting is like a diary entry, though sometimes I listen back and think, ‘Oh my God, that’s way too personal...,’” she says.

I started writing more intently and I realised that some parts of my voice were still there. It’s been a long process, and now surgery. SHANIA TWAIN SINGER AND SONGWRITER

Infection from a tick bite took away some 15 years of Shania Twain’s musical career