Shania Twain hailed Taylor Swift an artist who “is working her butt off.” The country-pop megastar credited Swift as an example as she spoke about dedication and passion in a new interview published on Wednesday (April 17).

Twain spoke with Haute Living about her current “making the most of life” era, teased her upcoming Las Vegas residency, delved into the ways she expresses herself through fashion, and reflected on Come On Over more than two decades after releasing the iconic record. Come On Over included some of Twain’s biggest hits of her career, including the title track, “Honey, I’m Home,” “That Don’t Impress Me Much” and, of course, “Man! I Feel Like A Woman!,” to name a few.

During her Haute Living interview, Twain insisted she never “intended on being a trailblazer or anything. I never even realized I would be,” as she broke barriers on country-pop crossovers and skyrocketed to a new level of international success. Haute Living notes just a few other artists whose careers have since benefitted from Twain’s work for country music and for female artists, including Lauren Alaina, Carrie Underwood, Kelsea Ballerini, Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris and Swift. Twain said, “I see it as a great compliment when someone calls me a trailblazer, but it’s not like I set out to do so. I was just being myself, and I think that’s served me very well.”

Twain went on to explain that she felt it necessary to release Come On Over, even when some were skeptical of the blend between genres. She said she’s proud “that I had the courage to take risks,” and said of Swift as she spoke about her own dedication: “That girl is working her butt off. She is living an exhausting existence, but she’d dedicated and committed to herself, to her art, and her work. It isn’t even about ambition, though I’m sure that most people would call her ambitious. She’s an extremely hard worker, and I’m sure she’s got giant goals. But it’s not all about ambition: it’s about passion and committing yourself to your passion. [Like Taylor], I was and am someone who does that, and that’s what really reaps rewards. So, I would say that I’m most proud of my perseverance, and that I didn’t waste my talents.”

Swift is gearing up to release her highly-anticipated new studio album, The Tortured Poet’s Department, on Friday (April 19). iHeartRadio is planning iHeartTaylor to mark the album’s release date, part of Taylor Swift Week.

Twain looked ahead to her Vegas residency speaking on her empowering state of mind and her outlook on “making the most of life,” including with her recently-debuted pink hair: “I’m getting less and less inhibited as I age. …I like to do goofy things. Outside of experimenting with hair color, I would say that I enjoy being fearless — nothing really scares me. I’m not worried about wearing a hair color and not pulling it off. I’m not worried about the backlash… even in my own mirror. There’s no wrong thing to experiment with. You’ve just got to have fun — and being playful makes me feel more youthful.

“You should have the confidence and fearlessness to walk around naked if you want to. If I had any advice to impart on the youth, it would be don’t ever not do those things; don’t ever lose touch with those very basic, playful moments in your life. Don’t ever have the need to be reunited with that aspect of yourself, because you shouldn’t lose touch with it in the first place.”

Read Twain’s full interview here.

Jo Mercer