Shania Twain
Name at birth: Eileen Regina Edwards
Shania Twain released her eponymous debut album in 1993, the same year she married superstar music producer Robert "Mutt" Lange. Five years later she was one of country music's biggest stars thanks to talent, charisma, and a va-va-voom body lavishly displayed at every opportunity. Her 1995 album The Woman in Me won the Grammy Award for best country album and eventually sold over 12 million copies. Her 1997 follow-up Come On Over sold even more and confirmed her superstar status through hit singles like "You're Still the One," "That Don't Impress Me Much" and "Man! I Feel Like a Woman." Early in her career Twain was a controversial figure among country music purists, some of whom felt her made-for-video musical style was too close to MTV pop, but such criticism was ultimately buried beneath her overwhelming success. Her 2002 album Up! sold two million copies in the U.S. in its first month of release. She released a greatest hits album in 2004.
Extra credit: Twain and Lange separated in 2008. Their son, Eja D'Angelo, was born in 2001... Twain was born Eileen Edwards, but later took her stepfather's last name... She changed her first name to "Shania" in 1990; it reputedly means "I'm on my way" in the Ojibway language.
Other country-pop crossover stars include Dolly Parton, Garth Brooks, Faith Hill and Roy Orbison.