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What Happened to Shania Twain’s Voice? Lyme Disease, Nerve Damage and Surgery

Shania Twain says voice problems began after Lyme disease in 2003. She later attributed the change to damaged laryngeal nerves and underwent surgery in 2018.
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Shania Twain has said her voice problems began after she contracted Lyme disease following a tick bite in 2003. She later learned that damaged nerves affecting her larynx were involved, and she underwent laryngeal surgery in 2018. The operation helped, but her voice now sounds different: deeper and raspier, with a gravelly quality. Twain says she has come to appreciate its changed character.

When did Shania Twain’s voice problems begin?

Twain has traced the start of her voice trouble to 2003, when she said she contracted Lyme disease after being bitten by a tick while horseback riding. She recalled that her voice could cut out and that, for years, she could not yell for her dog. In a 2022 ABC News report, she described the change plainly: “My voice was never the same again.” ABC News

For years, the cause was unclear. Twain said specialists did not initially find an obvious problem with her vocal cords, even though she struggled to project and control her voice. A neurologist eventually connected her difficulties to nerve function involved in producing her voice. In a 2017 interview, she described the diagnosis as nerve damage, while also explaining that she understood it as something to manage rather than cure. WUNC/NPR Music

What was damaged: her vocal cords or the nerves in her larynx?

The distinction matters. Some earlier coverage used shorthand such as “nerve damage to my vocal cords.” In a 2026 Associated Press interview, Twain clarified her account: “I had damaged nerves in my larynx. So the vocal cords were perfectly fine.” Her explanation is that the nerves affecting laryngeal function were damaged, not that the vocal-cord tissue itself was injured. Associated Press

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That is Twain’s account as reported in interviews, not an independent clinical record. Her descriptions have developed over time: a 2017 interview discussed dysphonia and unusual muscle tension around the larynx, while her later AP interview made the nerve-versus-vocal-cord distinction explicit. The precise medical mechanism cannot be settled from those interviews alone. Music Week WUNC/NPR Music Associated Press

What surgery did Shania Twain have?

Twain had surgery involving her larynx in 2018. In her 2026 AP interview, she said implants were placed in her larynx. An earlier AP interview described an open-throat procedure and Twain’s account of singing and speaking while awake so the medical team could assess closure. Those details describe her individual procedure; they should not be taken as a standard approach for laryngeal surgery. Associated Press Associated Press

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Twain said the operation worked, but it did not restore her old voice. In a 2017 interview, she described returning to recording with Now and adapting her phrasing and delivery through rehabilitation. Music Week WUNC/NPR Music

How does Shania Twain’s voice sound now?

Twain has described it as deeper and raspier. In a 2023 Guardian interview, she said, “It’s definitely deeper and raspier now, but I don’t mind the new characteristics in there.” The Associated Press has also described its gravelly tone and vocal fry. Twain has said she likes the voice she has now, even though it differs from the sound audiences knew earlier in her career. The Guardian Associated Press

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How does she manage her voice?

Twain has said she continues to adapt how she warms up and uses her voice. In 2023, she told the AP that surgery reduced her warm-up from roughly two hours to about 20 minutes. She also said that after a week or two without singing, it could take two to three days to get her voice going again. These are her reported experiences, not a general recovery timetable. Associated Press

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