I know you love horses – Shania Twain mulls over taking animals to Glastonbury

Shania Twain is mulling over taking horses with her on stage at Glastonbury when the country pop star plays the coveted Sunday afternoon legends slot.

The Canadian singer, known for hits including Man! I Feel Like A Woman! and That Don’t Impress Me Much, was announced as among the performers for the Worthy Farm festival in Somerset.

She will follow in the footsteps of fellow major artists such as Yusuf/Cat Stevens, Diana Ross, Kylie Minogue and Dame Shirley Bassey who have all filled the prestigious slot.

Twain, 58, told BBC Radio 2’s The Zoe Ball Breakfast Show: “Honestly, I feel like it’s well, I don’t know if this is the right language, but it feels like an accolade of sorts because it really feels like something that you have to earn. It’s just very rewarding, it’s a really beautiful feeling.”

She added that “so many of my heroes” including Lionel Richie and Dolly Parton have performed in the Sunday afternoon slot.

When asked if she would have horses on stage, similar to her Las Vegas residency, Twain said: “Oh god, wouldn’t that be … OK, who can pull those strings for me?

“You’ve just put something in my mind. I know that you guys love your horses, this could, you know, I wonder, hmmm, let me think about this.

“Maybe I could show up on a carriage, you know, a team of horses or something. I’m sure that could be arranged.”

She told the same radio station in 2017 that bringing horses on stage helped her when she was having difficulties with her voice.

“I do this liberty work with the horse … I do You’re Still The One with it and it’s like this psychological distraction,” Twain said.

She did not release an album for 15 years following a bout of Lyme disease that caused her to lose her singing voice.

In 2018, she underwent open-throat surgery to repair damage done by the debilitating illness.

She returned from her hiatus with Now, which shot straight to number one on both sides of the Atlantic, and followed it up last year with the joyous and equally successful record Queen Of Me.

Twain also told Radio 2 that her Glastonbury show will be “an energy exchange”.

“It’s (going to) be all the hits first of all, so I expect us to all be singing, word for word the whole time through, so it’ll be high energy,” she added.

“That sunset glow party energy with all the hits.”

She also revealed that she had not yet told Richie, who she described as a “mentor” and played the same Legends slot in 2015.

Twain also said: “Oh my god, honestly this is, would never have even entered my mind that I would ever even make it across the border from Canada to go anywhere, so it was always my dream, honestly, to go around the world, but, yeah, I can’t believe it, I’m actually going to Glastonbury, I’m really, it’s happening, it’s happening guys.”

The five-time Grammy-award winner has sold more than 100 million records in her career, making her one of the most successful musicians ever.

Her 1993 debut, self-titled studio album was well received by critics but it was her 1995 follow-up, The Woman In Me, that shot her to fame.

The diamond-certified record went to number one in the US country chart and she furthered her success with 1997’s Come On Over, which featured singles including You’re Still The One and That Don’t Impress Me Much.

It earned her four Grammy Awards and remains the biggest-selling studio album of all time by a solo female artist, propelling her career to stratospheric heights when she was in her early thirties.

Her fourth album Up!, which included hits I’m Gonna Getcha Good! and Ka-Ching!, was also a commercial success following its release in 2002.

The singer will kick off her third Las Vegas residency being held at the Bakkt Theatre at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in May.

Glastonbury co-organiser Emily Eavis had previously revealed she booked a major female artist for the legends slot.

Last year, folk singer-songwriter Yusuf took festival-goers on a melodic journey through the ages when he performed during the legends slot, playing classic tracks from his back catalogue along with songs from his latest 17th studio album.