Shania Twain has applauded Taylor Swift for “working her butt off”.
The 58-year-old singer is a huge fan of the ‘Shake it Off’ hitmaker who, like Shania, started off her career in the country genre.
The ‘Queen of Country Pop’ attended one of Taylor’s ‘Eras Tour’ shows last year and on the eve of the release of her 11th studio album, ‘The Tortured Poets Department’, Shania has praised her peer for combining her natural songwriting talent with a relentless work ethic.
Speaking to Haute Living magazine, she said: “I wouldn’t say I’m proud of anything I’ve done. Pride is not a great word for me, because I don’t think you can take credit for creative gifts if you were born with them; you can only take credit for developing them.
“What I would say I’m proud of is that I had the courage to take risks, that I could be so hard-working and dedicated.
“That girl [Taylor] is working her butt off. She is living an exhausting existence, but she’d dedicated and committed to herself, to her art, and her work.”
The ‘Man! I Feel Like A Woman’ singer insisted that talent and ambition only gets you so far in the music industry, and “committing yourself to your passion” is the key to success.
She added: “It isn’t even about ambition, though I’m sure that most people would call her [Taylor] ambitious. She’s an extremely hard worker, and I’m sure she’s got giant goals. But it’s not all about ambition: it’s about passion and committing yourself to your passion. [Like Taylor], I was and am someone who does that, and that’s what really reaps rewards.
“So, I would say that I’m most proud of my perseverance, and that I didn’t waste my talents.”
While Shania has nothing but good things to say about Taylor, 34, other artists have been critical of her.
Recently, Courtney Love claimed Taylor was not “interesting” or “important”.
In an interview with The London Evening Standard newspaper, she said: “Taylor is not important. She might be a safe space for girls, and she’s probably the Madonna of now, but she’s not interesting as an artist.”