Behind The Song

Even Diehard Fans Might Not Know That Shania Twain Wrote One of Her Biggest Hits for Celine Dion

In 1998, Shania Twain released โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€. Written by Twain and her then-husband, Robert โ€œMuttโ€ Lange, Twain released both a solo version of the song and a duet with Bryan White. The song is on Come On Over, Twainโ€™s third studio album. One of her biggest hits, Twain actually wrote it with another big star in mind, one who isnโ€™t country.

โ€œ’From This Moment On’ is the one I least expected to be so big and so timeless, because I really didnโ€™t want to record the song myself,โ€ Twain tells Us Weekly. โ€œI wrote it because I wanted Celine Dion to sing it.โ€

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At the time, Dion was having hit after hit, with songs like โ€œThe Power Of Loveโ€, โ€œBecause You Loved Meโ€, โ€œItโ€™s All Coming Back To Me Nowโ€, and more. Twain says she โ€œdidnโ€™t have accessโ€ to the pop superstar when she wrote โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€ with her in mind.

โ€œShe probably didnโ€™t even know who I was,โ€ Twain adds. 

It was Lange who suggested Twain sing โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€ instead.

โ€œIโ€™m like, โ€˜Oh, brother.โ€™ I wrote the wrong song for my voice because I was thinking about Celine Dion,โ€ Twain recalls. โ€œI was really thinking about it being this pop power ballad, but it worked for me. Itโ€™s really a big, big ballad for me.โ€ 

Surprisingly, Elton John was Twainโ€™s first choice to join her on โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€. When that didnโ€™t pan out, she went with White.

How Shania Twain Wrote โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€

The sweet song says, โ€œI do swear that I’ll always be there / Iโ€™d give anything and everything and I will always care / Through weakness and strength, happiness and sorrow / For better for worse, I will love you / With every beat of my heart / From this moment life has begun / From this moment, you are the one / Right beside you is where I belong / From this moment on.โ€

Twain wasnโ€™t necessarily feeling romantic when she began writing what became โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€. Used in countless weddings, Twain reveals she and Lange were at a soccer game in Italy when โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€ began.

โ€œMy husband loves sports,โ€ Twain said at the time. โ€œI don’t know the game that well, so my mind drifted, and I started writing.” 

Twain never imagined when writing โ€œFrom This Moment Onโ€ that it would not only become one of her most successful singles but also be part of important moments for so many of her fans.

โ€œIt means a lot to me that it means something so personal to so many people,โ€ Twain tells Billboard.  โ€œSo many people brought a part of me with them into such an important moment in their life.โ€

Photo by KMazur/WireImage