Fleetwood Mac, The Beach Boys, and Other Bands That Influenced Young Shania Twain
Shania Twain loves harmonies — especially as a budding, young musician. In her memoir From This Moment On, the “That Don’t Impress Me Much” singer mentioned specific bands that inspired her love for “multipart harmonies” and “complex vocal arrangements,” including the Beach Boys and Fleetwood Mac.
Shania Twain became interested in music at a young age, according to ‘From This Moment On’
As stated in From This Moment On, Twain began singing at about 3 years old, even doing what she later described as vocal warm-ups. The songwriter began accompanying herself on guitar when performing live.
She looked up to well-known bands of that time period, specifically noting their complex harmonies. As a fan of harmonies herself, this artist “couldn’t get enough” of some of the world’s biggest bands.
Shania Twain shared her love for specific artists — and their harmonies
Twain’s love for music started with other chart-topping artists. That includes the band behind Rumours — Fleetwood Mac.
“Later, in my teens, I would study other groups known for their multipart harmonies: the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, the Doobie Brothers, Earth, Wind & Fire, ABBA,” she wrote. “And more Bee Gees — it’s hard to top the three brothers’ combination of talent and the similar voice quality that comes from sharing DNA.”
Years later, Twain specifically mentioned wanting to do an ABBA-style musical while visiting Björn Ulvaeus’ Björn From ABBA & Friends Radio on Apple Music, as noted by U Discover Music.
Twain collaborated with Michael Bublé, Orville Peck, and Ronan Keating. She joined Harry Styles during his headlining Coachella set. However, her relationship with the Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, and other artists mentioned in her memoir remains unclear.
Shania Twain ‘loved to harmonize’
Before she was singing lead, this artist often practiced creating harmonies on already recorded songs. This was, in part, inspired by groups like the Beach Boys and their originals featuring complex vocal tracks.
“I loved to harmonize, and couldn’t get enough of listening to pristine and sometimes complex vocal arrangements executed ingeniously by artists such as the Beach Boys, the Mamas and the Papas, Bread, and the Bee Gees, to name a few,” Twain noted in her memoir.
Twain eventually debuted as a solo artist and songwriter, releasing her self-titled collection in 1993. However, she wasn’t always inclined to sing lead.
“Although my preference was to always take the harmony part, my mother encouraged me to sing lead,” Twain added. “’You’re my little singer, not my little backup singer,’ was her reasoning. The urge I felt to go straight to the harmony parts so often, I believe, was probably a true reflection of my personality.”
Of course, Twain became a chart-topping solo artist, recording “You’re Still the One,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” “Man! I Feel Like a Woman,” and other hit songs.
