Shania Twain’s Queen of Me Tour rolled into New York City’s Madison Square Garden on Tuesday (July 11), bringing with it a formidable catalog of country classics as well as a kick-ass opener, Breland, one of the more promising fresh faces in country music.
But Breland – who joined Shania mid-show on “Inhale/Exhale Air” from her 2023 album Queen of Me – wasn’t the only surprise guest. NBC Today anchor Hoda Kotb, who is apparently text message pals with Shania, came out and duetted with the legend on one of her best-loved tunes. Plus, several lucky fans got the chance to share the stage with Twain over the course of the night.
“This really is the time of my life, and I really mean that,” Twain said before her raucous three-song encore. “I’m loving life and I’m loving all these moments. I’m overwhelmed by the welcome.”
She also announced that there’s a 25th anniversary edition of her indispensable 1997 album Come On Over on the way, which will features new mixes as well as live recordings of its songs with guests like Elton John, Chris Martin and Alison Krauss & Union Station. Come On Over – 25th Anniversary Diamond Edition drops Aug. 25 via Mercury/UMe and is available for pre-order now; Come On Over is the best-selling album from a female artist in the Luminate era (1991-present), giving her three of her seven No. 1s on the Hot Country Songs chart.
From duetting with a broadcast legend to wearing the costume from the “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!” music video on stage for the first time ever, here are the best moments from Shania Twain’s NYC tour stop.
It was a surprise moment we never knew we needed. Shania Twain brought out Today show anchor Hoda Kotb (“we text all the time,” she casually mentioned) to help her celebrate a career milestone (more on that later). Kotb, purple mic in hand, was afforded the treat of a lifetime when Twain blended voices with the broadcast legend for a short a cappella duet on her GOAT ballad “You’re Still the One” before doing the full song (sans Kotb).
In addition to the delightful duet, Kotb helped Twain celebrate the fact that Come On Over has sold more than 20 million copies in the U.S. alone with a double diamond platinum plaque. “I am honored to be on this stage in this beautiful Madison Square Garden in the great city of New York to celebrate an incredible moment for this lovely, incredible human being,” Kotb said. Twain, for her part, seemed genuinely touched: “It’s incredible what’s happened with this album and that all of you are still here supporting me.”
Twain naturally closes out her Queen of Me shows with one of her best-known songs, “Man! I Feel Like a Woman!”, but the July 11 stop in NYC was a little bit different. For the first time ever, she wore her iconic outfit from the music video, designed by Marc Bouwer, during a live performance of the song. “This costume hasn’t seen a stage before, it’s the original,” Twain said, noting the corset has been “in a museum collecting dust,” so she decided to take it out for a spin. (Yes, a quarter of a century later, it still fits perfectly.)
In addition to bringing several couples onstage as she sang “From This Moment On,” Twain brought up two life-long listeners for a special moment with her. The fans, one from Canada, the other from the U.K., became besties in NYC, bonding over their love for Shania; before long, they both realized they had been to the same Shania show in London’s Hyde Park when they were both eight years old. “It’s lovely that you met through music and you’re here all these years later,” Twain said.
Sometimes, you gotta sing for your supper, and Shania put the MSG crowd to work before a spirited take on “Honey, I’m Home.” Dividing the MSG crowd into three sections, Twain asked each one to sing the word “honey” in a different key – and she wasn’t playing around. After an unsatisfactory test run from one side of the arena, she asked another side to perform, which it did admirably. “See? That’s how it’s done,” she jokingly chided the first group of people.
We’d be remiss not to salute her two backup dancers, whose enthusiasm and verve kept the energy up the entire show. The duo’s tap-dancing showdown interlude, which gave Twain a chance to change costumes, was far more impressive and entertaining than the kind of video segments stars typically use to keep the audience occupied when they’re off stage.
There were a few reflective moments throughout the course of the night. Twain shared how Dolly Parton’s songwriting influenced her growing up and recalled the inauspicious circumstances under which her first hit on the Billboard country charts was written. Acoustic guitar in hand, she shared how “Whose Bed Have Your Boots Been Under?” was penned in a quiet cabin with no running water. She then performed a short acoustic take on it, before bringing out the full band (and an alien chasing a horse on the video screen – don’t ask) for the more familiar rocking version, since “it became a sh-t kicker” during the studio sessions.