Shania Twain Reveals the ‘Honest’ Advice She Gave Jon Bon Jovi When She Referred Him to Her Vocal Cord Surgeon (Exclusive)
Shania Twain Reveals the ‘Honest’ Advice She Gave Jon Bon Jovi When She Referred Him to Her Vocal Cord Surgeon (Exclusive)
Ilana KaplanFri, July 31, 2026 at 1:45 PM UTC
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Jon Bon Jovi and Shania Twain in February 2024 in L.A.Credit: Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty -
Shania Twain opens up to PEOPLE about supporting Jon Bon Jovi through his vocal cord issues
“I shared my surgeon’s information with him, my experience with him, and I encouraged him to weigh up all the scenarios,” the country superstar tells PEOPLE
Twain underwent a vocal fold medialization procedure in 2018, while Bon Jovi had surgery to alleviate his loose vocal cords in June 2022
Shania Twain was a shoulder for Jon Bon Jovi to lean on during his vocal cord issues.
Twain, 60, who underwent a vocal fold medialization procedure in 2018, was able to help Bon Jovi, 64, when he underwent the same procedure in June 2022.
The “Come on Over” musician tells PEOPLE that she initially met Bon Jovi on an international flight to Europe.
“We just bumped into each other in the aisle and he said, ‘Shania, it’s really cool to meet you. I’ve heard that you have the reputation of being the hardest-working artist in the industry. I have the same reputation. Nice to meet you.’ I think he felt already early on that we had something in common,” Twain recalls.
At the time, she says the “It’s My Life” hitmaker was experiencing “laryngeal nerve problems.”
“I had already been through that due to Lyme disease, and he just called me up and said, ‘Share everything you know about how you got back singing live after nerve atrophy in the voice,’” Twain recalls.
She added, “I shared my surgeon’s information with him, my experience with him, and I encouraged him to weigh up all the scenarios. I told him that it worked for me, and that I was honest. I think he really appreciated that, was able to take it all on board.”
Shania TwainCredit: Victoria Will
Twain says that her voice “has never been the same” since the surgery but she can sing: “I’m way more gravelly. I have this rasp. I have more character.”
Twain also warned Bon Jovi that the surgery was “scary,” she says. “It’s an open-throat surgery, and you have to be awake. I said, ‘I just have to be honest with you because if you’re going into this, you’re going to hear it from the surgeon anyway, but you might as well hear it from somebody who’s been through it.’”
Shania TwainCredit: Victoria Will
Even now, Twain isn’t sure that other musicians have been through the surgery that they have, since she says it’s only typical for injury patients like “boxers” or “cancer patients where they have to remove tumors near those nerves and in the throat, neck, or tongue, mouth area.”
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Twain says that even with the surgery, there’s no guarantee that your voice will recover properly.
“You’re jumping into it. You have to be brave, and you have to make a choice. I either never sing again, I’ll never be able to cope with [or] live with this hour and a half, two hours of singing live, or proper vocal expression. Or, I get the operation, and I take the chance. What do I have to lose?”
Indeed, Twain went for it. “[My voice is] different, I embrace it,” she says. “I’m grateful that I can sing, I can hold a note, and I can be loud and proud.”
Shania TwainCredit: Victoria Will
In April 2024, Bon Jovi opened up to PEOPLE about how Twain had become his “spirit sister” while he was struggling with vocal cord issues.
At the time, the “Any Man of Mine” performer said he had the “same doctor” and “same surgery” as the five-time Grammy winner.
“She’s the only other one I’ve known that’s ever had this surgery, with this doctor, and the only reason I found that out is because she reported it in the press,” Bon Jovi said of discovering that they had the same doctor, Robert Sataloff.
He added that Twain gave him reassurance that everything “would be OK.”
“I think she also pulled my leg a little bit because she told me I’d be out there a lot sooner than I have been. She says, ‘Well, I told you that because I knew that you might back out otherwise.’ And so, I couldn’t wait to get the operation,’” said Bon Jovi.
After having his surgery in 2022, which alleviated his vocal cords, he and Twain celebrated at the MusiCares Person of the Year Gala in February 2024 where Bon Jovi was the event’s honoree and Twain delivered a cover of Bon Jovi’s “Bed of Roses.”
Twain’s new album Little Miss Twain is out now.
For more on Shania Twain, pick up the new issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands everywhere Friday.
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
