Prince Wanted To Make Next ‘Rumours’ Album With Shania Twain

Pop country superstar Shania Twain today released a new album, Queen Of Me, which was her first since 2017’s Now. While promoting the album, Twain’s first for Republic Records partner Republic Nashville after 29 years with Mercury Nashville, the singer-songwriter spoke to Zane Lowe and revealed late legendary musician Prince once reached out with an offer to collaborate on the next Rumours.

Lowe’s hourlong Apple Music interview with Twain touched on a variety of topics, including the impact of genre labels on Twain’s career. Discussing the difficulty faced by musicians – particularly women, whose music straddles country, pop and other genres, Twain expressed frustration with Nashville and the music industry trying to box her into one lane or another.

This led Lowe to bring up Prince, whose genre-breaking output eschewed the typical confines of the music business. Lowe mentioned he was surprised Twain never collaborated with Prince, who died in 2016 at age 57. The 57-year-old Twain responded by revealing Prince did in fact reach out while she going through a divorce in 2010 from Robert John “Mutt” Lange, who produced Twain’s massively successful albums, 1995’s The Woman in Me and 1997’s Come On Over.

Twain detailed a phone call she had with Prince during which he discussed collaborating and cited the Fleetwood Mac classic album as an inspiration. Twain told Lowe:

“I missed out on that because – Prince called me when I got divorced and we’re on the phone and he said, ‘Shania, why don’t you come to Paisley Park [Prince’s recording facility in Chanhassen, Minnesota]? I want to make the next Rumours album with you.’

“That was the weirdest thing he could have ever have said because Mutt, 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’ve been dumped but I’m not obviously divorced yet – I’m like this is way too ironic, what you’re saying. And I am such a major Prince fan.

“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.

“Plus, I’m on the phone with him and I’m swearing like I always do because I’m just at home. 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’m going to 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 to me. I didn’t give up on it or anything, but then he died.”

Watch Shania Twain’s full interview with Zane Lowe below, the lead into the Prince discussion begins at the 47:31 mark: