She followed that remarkable success with Come On Over in 1997, which saw one single after the next hit the top of the charts. "Man, I Feel Like A Woman!," "That Don't Impress Me Much," "Love Gets Me Every Time" and "You're Still The One" solidified her musical persona as a strong, but playful woman who believed in and demanded true respect. With sales of 19 million in the U.S., the album became the biggest seller by a woman in any genre of music. Not only did Twain reach beyond country music to reach pop fans, she crossed oceans, becoming a top selling artist worldwide. "Shania has become what a lot of stars seek to become," Billboard editor Chet Flippo said, "Which is a sort of global star with no discernible genre."
In May of 1998, with two wildly successful albums, and enough hit songs for a solid show, Twain set out on her first headlining tour, Come On Over. Over the course of 19 months, she performed for more than 2.5 million screaming fans, silencing critics who wondered if she could re-create her music in a live setting. "I have a lot of fun with the touring, it's the big reward," Twain said. "I can see on their faces what the songs mean to them. I'm affected by music when I sit and listen. I'm high by it so when I see I'm affecting them the same way, I really feel I've done what I came to do." The tour was the highest-grossing tour in country music history, and having done what she came to do, Twain finally took a break.
She and her husband retreated to their home in Switzerland, had a baby boy in 2001, and generally lived their lives for the next few years. Her distinctive voice was missed, and Country Music magazine ran an article that read like a letter to Twain, begging her to come back with more music. At the end of 2002 she did.
Up! didn't disappoint. Released in the U.S. as a 2 CD set - one offering a country version of the songs, the other a pop mix of them, the album delighted fans, who snapped up nearly three million copies in less than a month. The first single, "I'm Gonna Getcha Good," showed that motherhood and time away had not drastically altered Twain's approach to her music. "There is a typical Shania attitude in the lyric, a definite female confidence," Twain said of the song. "In my experience it's more typical to run into guys with such confidence. I thought it would be fun to write with that same confidence, but from a woman's point of view. I wanted the first single to reflect that playful attitude because I wanted people to relate to the Shania they already knew, at the same time, hearing a fresh new sound." Time magazine called Up!, "Easily the best pop album of the year...with the kind of energy that reminds you how much fun the genre can be."
Once again, the proof of Shania's power as songwriter and performer was seen in the sales chart. Up!, certified at 10 million U.S. sales, made Twain the only artist in history to have three consecutive 10x Platinum RIAA-certified albums [the other two being The Woman In Me (12x platinum) and Come On Over (19x platinum)]. Her Up! tour was the top-grossing country tour of 2004, and often caused jaded music critics to talk in Shania-like exclamation points.
With three powerhouse albums to draw from, Shania Twain's Greatest Hits is the ultimate exclamation point to her career so far. "I wanted to put together all of my favorite songs from over the years for a fun, high energy album," she says. "This record is exactly that, as well as a dedication to all of the passionate fans who have enjoyed and supported me throughout the years."