Fleetwood Mac’s 1977 classic Rumours is one of the all-time great albums and a tough one to replicate. Prince wanted to try, though, and he wanted Shania Twain to help him out. When he asked her, however, she actually rejected him.
She explained her reasoning in a recent interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe, saying:
”I missed out on that because Prince called me when I got divorced. We’re on the phone and he said, ‘Shania, why don’t you come to Paisley Park? I want to make the next Rumours album with you.’ And that was the weirdest thing he could have ever have said, because his standard of what he thought, where I could live as a standard was that album, Rumours album. And he said that to me. So when Prince said that to me, I’m like, oh man, I’m not even divorced yet. I’m just like, I’ve been dumped, but I’m not, obviously, divorced yet. I’m like, this is way too ironic what you’re saying. Right? And I’m such a major Prince fan. And then on top of it, I hadn’t found my voice yet, I was still working on it. I was so far from finding it still. I was writing, but I was too insecure to go and get with Prince in the studio. I was too insecure, in every way.”
The comment about not having found her voice yet was in reference to her battle with Lyme disease, which compromised her singing ability and forced her to go on a musical hiatus in the mid 2000s.
She continued, “Plus, I’m on the phone with him and I’m swearing like I always do. I mean, because I’m just at home and it’s … He said to me, ‘Well, if you do decide to come to Paisley Park, there’s no swearing allowed here.’ So that was another strike. I’m like, oh no, I love you so much, but I don’t think I could get through writing and recording an album without swearing, somewhere along the way! What are you going to do to me if I swear? I might have to stand in the corner or something. I wasn’t sure about that. I don’t think I was ready for what all that was going to mean for me. I didn’t give up on it or anything, but then he died.”
Watch the interview above.
