Shania Twain worried that she may 'never' be able to sing again

Shania Twain worried that she may "never" sing again.

The 57-year-old country star made the "big decision" to return to the studio for new album Queen of Me - which is due for release in 2023 - but was left with nerve damage to her vocal cords after contracting Lyme disease in 2003 and had open-throat surgery in 2018 to help combat the issue but is always nervous that she will permanently lose her voice.

She said: "For me, this album means so, so much about my decision-making and the courage to get the operation, knowing that I may never even be able to sing again after the surgery. So that was a big decision."

The Man! I Feel Like a Woman! hitmaker went on to add that she was "testing" her new voice every day throughout the production process and remains "unsure" whether the procedure she had in 2017 will continue to "hold up" as she gets older.

Speaking on Talk Shop Live, she explained: "Every day that I was recording I was testing the new voice. Getting on the mic in the studio, it's so vulnerable. You can't drown it out with production or a band or mixing or anything like that until much, much later on. What's even more precious to me is that I don't know if the procedure that I had will last forever. With age, it could just not hold up, and that could be it and I will have to make another decision. Will I do the operation again or not? Do I just now write music for other people's albums at that point? I will gladly do that, and, again, it will be another decision that I will have to make as the queen of me. Some decisions are tougher than others!"

- Bang! Showbiz