Shania Twain says her voice was never the same after the “devastating” diagnosis

Shania Twain had previously explained how grateful she was to be able to sing again after an illness forced her to undergo open neck surgery while awake. The 58-year-old country singer performed in front of a huge crowd in the Legends slot on the Pyramid Stage at Glastonbury Festival on Sunday afternoon.

But she once thought she would never be able to sing again after she contracted Lyme disease and suffered terrible symptoms. Shania was bitten by a tick and passed out on stage before she was diagnosed.

In her Netflix documentary ‘Not Just a Girl’, the singer said her voice was ‘never the same’ after the ‘devastating’ illness. She said: ‘My symptoms were quite frightening because before the diagnosis I was always very dizzy on stage.

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“I lost my balance, I was afraid of falling off the stage… I had these blackouts that lasted for milliseconds, but regularly, every minute or every 30 seconds.”

She added: “My voice was never the same again. I thought I had lost my voice forever. I thought that was it and I would never sing again.”

Shania opened up about how grateful she was to be able to sing and write new music again while appearing on ITV’s Lorraine. The Canadian singer said: “It was quite depressing and devastating to think about that (not being able to sing again). Even speaking was difficult because of Lyme disease.”

“Now I’m just so grateful that I can sing and express myself. And this is my first album since my voice surgery.”

She said of the terrifying medical procedure: “You have to be awake during it. I was more afraid of never being able to sing again than of getting through the operation. The reason you have to be awake during the operation is because you have to sing during it so they know exactly what to do.”