On a recent Friday, Shania Twain rode across a rural field in Alberta, Canada, to help a neighbor move a herd of Angus cattle. As the cows mooed loudly around her, the country-pop star multitasked, chatting on the phone about preparing for an appearance at a famous field across the ocean.
Twain recalls her early stage career at age 8, in smoky bars where drunken men sometimes heckled her. She developed stage fright and hated being in the spotlight until she was 50, she said. So the idea of performing in front of more than 200,000 people at Britain’s biggest music festival must have caused her anxiety.
But on Sunday afternoon, Twain, now 58, took the stage at Glastonbury Festival and did just that. Accompanied by a herd of equines (giant draft horses, this time), Twain opened with “That Don’t Impress Me Much,” her 1998 hit about rejecting romantic suitors. Within seconds, the massive crowd was singing along, dozens of women climbing onto their friends’ shoulders, hands outstretched in front of them.
She occupied the most coveted slot at Britain’s biggest and longest-running music event, the so-called Legend’s Slot, at 3.45pm on the final day of the festival, an appearance she said she expected to be the “most extraordinary party of my career”.
The musician who lands that coveted booking — past artists include Dolly Parton, Diana Ross and Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys — not only hears tens of thousands of fans sing their music back to them, but also secures a large live television audience, which typically translates into increased record sales and streaming.
This year, Twain was competing for ratings with Glastonbury’s three official headliners: Dua Lipa, Coldplay (who brought Michael J. Fox on stage Saturday for a performance of “Fix You”) and SZA.
Lionel Richie, who was the event’s “legend” in 2015, said in an email that after decades of headlining dark theaters, getting on stage one afternoon was unique because he could see the full emotions of the huge crowd. He added that many festival-goers dressed up to look like him, and at one point, a seemingly naked fan went crowd surfing in a canoe. As fans sang along to every word, “I had to remind the audience that this was my show,” he said.
On Sunday, Twain at times appeared shocked by the crowd. At one point, she spotted three women who appeared to be wearing Shania Twain masks and reacted with amused surprise. Like Richie, she was struck by her ability to see her audience clearly, noting that she could see “all the way to the tents” on the hill. “It’s really moving,” she said.
Twain said in a recent interview that she was aware of Glastonbury’s importance to British culture. Her team, some of whom are British, explained that the event is like a temporary town that magically appears in the countryside each year and can, at times, have an almost spiritual dimension. When they’re not watching pop stars perform, Glastonbury attendees can visit a stone circle, take dance classes or sing for peace.
“In my opinion, it is a real cultural experience for all who go,” Twain said, “and I plan to go early to enjoy it.” (That meant bringing rain boots for the park’s often muddy terrain. This year, attendees lucked out and encountered mostly dry conditions.)
When dairy farmer Michael Eavis launched the festival at Worthy Farm in 1970, it was a much more low-key event. Tickets for the first event, headlined by Marc Bolan and what would become T. Rex, cost £1, or about $1.20. Eavis offered free milk from his cows to the 1,500 attendees.
As the festival grew, Eavis recently said in an email that he had booked a host of artists he considered legends, including Curtis Mayfield and Tom Jones. But it wasn’t until the 1994 festival that the Sunday afternoon slot was reserved for a special performance.
That year, Eavis says, he hired Johnny Cash to play at tea time. The country singer’s gig did so well, Eavis says, that he “made sure we had someone there every year after that.”
Emily Eavis, Michael’s daughter who now co-organises the event, said in an email that she thought the “Legend’s Slot” had such an impact because it took place on the final day of the festival, after attendees had spent five days “living here in these fields” and were looking for one last party before returning to everyday life.
Twain was perfect for that moment, she added: “Shania just has the songs that connect when you have over a hundred thousand people on a Sunday afternoon, tired and emotional.”
Ahead of her trip, Twain said it was a surreal honour to now be, at least in Britain, an official “legend”. She doesn’t consider herself a “heritage artist”, as she still wants to write new songs and collaborate with young stars, including Harry Styles. “I want to learn new things and see my own creativity expand,” she said. “I feel very limitless.” Ahead of her concert, she said she knew her job was to “own the festival vibe” and entertain. “It’s not just another show,” she said. At Glastonbury, “the audience is the show”.
On Sunday, there were moments when that was the case. When Twain sang “You’re Still the One” sitting on a stool, much of the crowd — many dressed in cowboy outfits or leopard print — sang along to the song’s romantic lyrics while watching their friends, only occasionally glancing up at the stage.
And as Twain prepared to end her set with “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” she knew clearly that the audience was eagerly awaiting the chance to sing the song’s feminist refrain. “This song is all about you,” she told the audience. “You just have to let yourself go,” she added, “and tell me and everyone around you how you feel.” Then she let everyone sing along for her.
Erin Stewart, 30, a cowboy-hatted fan, said the show had “completely changed my life.” She said she had been listening to Twain for 25 years and had always considered her a legend. But finally seeing Twain perform live “was magical,” Stewart said: “I can die happy now.”