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Shania Twain is undoubtedly a musical legend, blazing her own trail in the country music industry and pushing genre boundaries as she became an international superstar over the course of her decades-long career.
Twain has won countless awards and influenced tons of other artists since she made her debut in the early 1990s. Her latest one is the ACM Poet’s Award, which she received at the 15th Annual ACM Honors. The show was hosted last month at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee, and aired on Tuesday evening (September 13). The award honors “an international superstar and one of Country Music's most versatile and invigorating songwriters, with instantly-recognizable hits and the title of top-selling female Country Pop artist of all time,” according to the Academy of Country Music.
During her acceptance speech, Twain shared a wise word of advice to budding songwriters:
“Some advice to new songwriters trying to find their way: Accept criticism because, right or wrong, you will grow from that. There probably won’t be a marked path or welcoming signage to follow on the road to success. But the good news is, if you take the word ‘follow’ out of your thought vocabulary, you’ll realize you’re already on the right path. Your own path.”
Other artists paid tribute to Twain throughout the night, including with fashion choices and unforgettable performances. Kelsea Ballerini kicked off the show with a high-energy performance of “Man! I Feel Like A Woman,” one of Twain’s most iconic hits. Tiera Kennedy — who has the “voice of an angel,” Twain previously said — made her Ryman debut with a rendition of “From This Moment On.” Pop-punk giant Avril Lavigne crossed genre boundaries to cover Twain’s 1990s song, “No One Needs To Know,” a performance so good that Twain herself suggested the pop-punk princess “should’ve gone into country, honestly.”
Twain thanked the Academy of Country Music again on Wednesday (September 14) as she shared the clip from her acceptance speech, and asked: “Are you ready to hear some more of my songwriting skills?”