Do you remember when Shania Twain was the biggest thing since sliced bread? There was a time when you couldn’t step foot outside your house without hearing her voice on the radio. Twain’s performance of her classic “You’re Still The One” back in 1998 in Paris shows the country-pop star at the peak of her powers, and boy, what a voice!
Twain looks and sounds like an angel on the ballad, which celebrates her life with her then-husband, music producer Robert “Mutt” Lange. The couple co-wrote every song on Twain’s third studio album, Come On Over, including “You’re Still The One”, which was released as the third single from the album. The performance has 60 million views on YouTube, making it the most popular live performance on Twain’s channel.
Twain just oozes charisma on stage, and her voice is flawless. The Canadian songbird plays the acoustic guitar on the number, backed up by a crack band of top session players of the day. The performance is one of two songs featured on Twain’s YouTube channel from her 1998 appearance at The Paris Concert For Amnesty International, which was a benefit concert held at the Paris-Bercy stadium.
Fans couldn’t get enough of the performance, adding comments such as “Written by her, sung by her live without Auto-Tune. True musician” and “This is my favourite song by Shania Twain and always makes me think that everything is possible when love is strong.” The second song from the Paris concert featured on Twain’s channel is “Black Eyes, Blue Tears”, which you can check out below.
It’s quite a treat to hear Twain onstage in 1998, which is when she was at her creative and commercial peak. Her album Come On Over was released just the year before, which became a cultural phenomenon, selling 40 million copies and being certified two times Diamond in the US. To this day, the album is still the biggest selling album by a female solo artist in history, and with a raft of US top 10 singles like “You’re Still the One”, “From This Moment On” and “That Don’t Impress Me Much”, that should come as no surprise.
Twain and Lange wrote “You’re Still The One” about their romance surviving against the odds. Lange was intrigued by Twain’s voice and her music video for her early single “What Made You Say That”, and began songwriting with her via phone calls, before they met at the Fan Fair festival in June 1993.
The pair’s working relationship blossomed into a romance shortly afterwards, although their relationship was met with skepticism in the media, who noted their 17-year age gap and differing cultural backgrounds. In 1997, Twain told Billboard that “They say, well, he married a young, good-looking girl, and she married a successful producer. So people thought it was based on that and certainly couldn’t last”.
Twain wrote the lyrics to “You’re Still The One” in response to the naysayers, and while she was singing a draft of the chorus, Lange contributed the counter melody for the line “You’re still the one”, and the rest is history.
If you’re a fan of timeless country-pop music, you shouldn’t miss out on experiencing more of Shania Twain’s incredible talent. To bring back the nostalgia of the late 90s and 00s, you can subscribe to her YouTube Channel or follow her on Facebook to stay updated on her performances and new releases.