Singer/songwriter Shania Twain began enjoying a great deal of success on

the country charts in 1995. Though she seemed to be an overnight star,

she'd actually been performing since childhood.

Twain was born Eileen Regina Edwards 34 years ago today in Windsor,

Ontario. Her father left the family when Twain was 2. She was raised

the second oldest of five children in Timmins, about 500 miles north of

Toronto, where her Ojibway Indian stepfather Jerry Twain (who adopted

Shania when she was 4) and mother had grown up.

Twain listened to Tammy Wynette, Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson and Waylon

Jennings as a youth, but was also into pop stars such as the Carpenters

and the Mamas and the Papas.

Before she was a teen, Twain was being booked by her mother on local

radio and TV music shows, at community centers and at senior citizens'

homes. She also worked on her father's reforestation crew in the Canadian

bush.

Tragedy struck when Twain was 21. Her mother and stepfather were killed

in a car crash, and she spent years as executor of her parents' affairs

and caretaker of her younger siblings. She performed at Ontario's Deerhurst

Resort in order to provide for her family.

In 1990, with most of her siblings old enough to handle themselves,

Twain changed her first name to Shania (an Ojibway name meaning "I'm on

my way"), cut a demo tape of her songs and tried to make a name in

Nashville.

PolyGram signed her in 1992 on the basis of her songs, but her 1993

eponymous debut featured only one original: "God Ain't Gonna Getcha For

That." Twain was then contacted by veteran rock producer Robert "Mutt"

Lange (Aerosmith, Def Leppard), who offered to produce her next album.

The pair eventually married.

Lange added pop production elements. The resulting album, the Grammy

Award-winning The Woman in Me, went to #5 on the Billboard

200 albums chart and sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. It

yielded a bevy of country smashes, including "(If You're Not in It For

Love) I'm Outta Here!" "You Win My Love" and others.

Though the LP made Twain a superstar, some critics and country purists

objected to her music's rock sheen and the manner in which she used her

good looks to sell her songs in sexy videos.

Come On Over (1997) also sold more than 10 million copies, making

Twain the first female artist to have two consecutive albums earning a

Diamond Award from the Recording Industry Association of America. The

LP was buoyed by the crossover smash, "You're Still the One"

(RealAudio

excerpt), which has since become a favorite for weddings and

anniversaries.

To support the album, Twain also began her first major concert tour in

1998. She was one of the stars of VH1's hugely popular "Divas Live" show,

with Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin and others, in 1998.

This year, Twain sang "Amneris' Letter" on Elton John & Tim Rice's

"Aida."

Other birthdays: Clem Cattini (Tornadoes), 60; Ann "Honey" Lantree

(Honeycombs), 56; David Soul, 56; Danny Seraphine (Chicago), 51; Hugh

Cornwell (Stranglers), 50; Wayne Osmond (Osmonds), 48; and LeAnn Rimes,

17.