No one remembers April 14, 1998, when Aretha Franklin, Mariah Carey, Celine Dion, Gloria Estefan and Shania Twain shared New York's Beacon Theatre stage for the inaugural VH1 Divas quite like Shania Twain herself. After all, it was the night the "Life's About to Get Good" singer-songwriter yearned for one thing: to have Mariah's big hair
"I said, 'OK, I gotta look at Mariah’s hair. I want to try for it to be as big as hers,' because she has this naturally big, amazing hair," Twain recalled in a new interview with PrideSource. "So I’m like, 'Come on, let’s go for it. I know Mariah’s gonna have bigger hair than me, so I’m gonna go for it and have fun with it.'"
Twain, 52, fully admits she had total Mariah hair envy during VH1's benefit concert for the Save the Music Foundation.
"She has that hair that I want, that naturally big hair with this gorgeous wave and those ringlets."
The pop-country crooner, who released her new album, Now, in September, performed two solo numbers that epic evening, "Man! I Feel Like a Woman!" and "You're Still the One," before uniting with the other four divas -- as well as special guest Carole King -- for an unforgettable nightcap collaboration: "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman," when Aretha Franklin famously led the performance while the other legendary ladies obviously gave the queen full command of the stage.
"Nobody can kill Aretha’s spotlight," Twain said.
But when asked who the biggest diva was that night, Twain joked of the "Touch My Body" chart-topper: "Mariah had the biggest hair, so probably her."
Twain looks back fondly on the Divas debut from two decades ago, saying, "It was such a wonderful group of ladies, really terrific." Moreover, she hasn't lost touch with Dion and Carey.
"We still cross paths -- it’s great. I always like to catch Mariah when she is live, and Celine, too."
Divas, which in the years since 1998 has also featured Cher, Whitney Houston, Miley Cyrus and Kelly Clarkson, returned to VH1 last year after a four-year hiatus for a special holiday-themed show called VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night. Should the live event return, Twain already has a wishlist of up-and-coming diva duet partners: Rihanna and Taylor Swift.
"Rihanna, for sure," Twain enthused. "She’s just so awesome. I love her voice; I never get tired of it. Never, never. And we hear it so much on the radio, right? She’s [every] second song on the radio and I just never get tired of it. 'Love on the Brain' – I mean, it just doesn’t get better than that. So, she’d definitely be on my list."
Twain added that "Taylor would be a good one. She’d be a must on 'Divas,' for sure. She’s awesome. She’s such a great creative person and a super songwriter and really uses her brain, so it’s lovely to watch her."
Check out the video below for more on Twain, who recently sat down with ET to talk about her first album in 15 years, which debuted this week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and country chart
