Shania Twain is currently opening a string of concerts for Harry Styles at Wembley Stadium in London. In a new interview with Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast, the country superstar says it all happened because of the respect Twain has for Styles’ relationship with his mom.
“I’m so happy for him that he still has his mother, through all of this fame, all of his growth, they’re bonded,” Twain says. “They support each other.”
According to Twain, the two first met backstage at an undisclosed event and exchanged numbers. Styles also extended his thanks to the “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” singer.
“He said, ‘I’m so grateful to my mother that I was introduced to your music. You’ve been the queen to me ever since,’” Twain recalls. “And then he says, ‘It’s my mother’s birthday coming up. Would you mind phoning her to wish her a happy birthday?’ I said, ‘Of course, easy, done.’”
Twain called, offered her a birthday greeting and, Twain says, “Congratulated her on such a fabulous son.” Later, Styles asked if she’d join him during his 2022 headlining set at Coachella. Twain admits she underestimated the weight of that request.
“I think I took it too casually. I cared about what I was wearing and I wanted it to be fun and everything, but it was a big, big, big moment,” she says. “We really came together at that moment as two artists, who had already connected as two individuals.”
When Styles decided he was returning to the road this summer, with a residency in London, Twain says her own phone rang.
“He called me up and said, ‘Will you come and do these shows with me at Wembley?’” Twain says. “I’m like, ‘Of course — only for you, Harry.’”
Styles will play 12 shows at Wembley as part of his “Together, Together” stadium residency. Twain is opening all dozen dates, which kicked off June 12. The next Wembley date is June 17; the residency concludes July 4.
Twain, meanwhile, will release her new album, Little Miss Twain, on July 24. Look for Twain’s complete interview on Rolling Stone’s Nashville Now podcast coming soon.
Download and subscribe to Rolling Stone’s weekly country-music podcast, Nashville Now, hosted by Deputy Editor, Head of Country Joseph Hudak, on Apple Podcasts or Spotify (or wherever you get your podcasts). New episodes drop every Wednesday and feature interviews with artists and personalities like Vince Gill, Lainey Wilson, Shaboozey, Hardy, Charley Crockett, Kings of Leon, Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys, the Black Crowes, Carly Pearce, Luke Grimes, Brandon Lake, Breland, Bryan Andrews, Noeline Hofmann, Adam Mac, Devon Gilfillian, Gavin Adcock, Amanda Shires, Shooter Jennings, Margo Price, Ink, Ne-Yo, Rival Sons’ Jay Buchanan, Halestorm, Dusty Slay, Lukas Nelson, Ashley Monroe, Old Crow Medicine Show’s Ketch Secor, Clever, Love on the Spectrum‘s Tyler White, Willie Nelson scholar John Spong, and authors Marissa R. Moss, Josh Crutchmer, Mark Gray, and Jonathan Bernstein.