She’s one of the most recognizable names in the music industry — a proud Canadian, a five-time Grammy Award winner who has sold more than 100 million albums worldwide.
On Friday, more than 300,000 people lined the streets of downtown Calgary to watch this year’s Calgary Stampede Parade, hoping to catch a smile and a wave from parade marshal Shania Twain.
In a one-on-one interview with Jeff McArthur, host of The Morning Show on Global Television, the country music legend reflected on how she got the invite to saddle up at the front of this year’s parade.
“So last year I was hanging around with some new friends that I’ve made in Calgary and they’re very involved with the Stampede and I said, ‘Oh, I would just love to be doing that right there, riding a horse in the parade.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh well, you know, not everybody can be a parade marshal — yeah, I’m sure it’ll never happen,’” Twain said.
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“And then I get the call. So I don’t know how that happened, but I’m really happy.”
“I feel very proud that I’m able to wear this gorgeous hat that was gifted to me for the parade,” Twain added. “This is my kind of pride and joy hat now.”
Despite having performed in Calgary many times over the course of her musical career, Twain said she has never attended the Stampede.
“I love to see the people. I love the people. I love the excitement. I’m going to feed off the energy and just enjoy myself, really. Say hello to a lot of people from in the saddle — that’s really the exciting part,” Twain said.
On Saturday, the five-time Grammy Award winner will make another appearance in Calgary as she takes to the stage for a concert at the Saddledome.
“It’ll be crazy in a really good way — a very exciting way — it’s really just all about the party and having fun,” Twain said. “I love people to forget about life for a little while, as I do when I’m on the stage. We all kind of escape together and just sing along and have a great time.”
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