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SHANIA TWAIN SURPRISES "OPRAH" SHOW AUDIENCE WITH AN INVITATION TO ATTEND 2011 CMA MUSIC FESTIVAL
Shania Returns to CMA Music Festival After 15 Year Absence

NASHVILLE - Today on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Country Music superstar Shania Twain sat down with Oprah Winfrey for a candid conversation about her life, her new book From this Moment On, and her upcoming docu-series on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network titled "Why Not? with Shania Twain."

During the hour-long episode, Twain surprised the entire studio audience with two-day passes to the 2011 CMA Music Festival and accommodations at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville (June 9-10). And not only that, Twain shared that she will host a private brunch for all of the audience members when they visit Nashville in June.

"The audience reaction was incredible," said Jason Owen, Shania's manager at Sandbox Entertainment and member of CMA's volunteer Board of Directors. "People were crying, screaming. You wouldn't believe how excited they were and how thrilled Shania was to make this experience possible for the fans."

"For four decades, this festival has been about the relationship between the fans and the artists and this is a tremendous example of that bond," said CMA CEO Steve Moore. "We are thrilled to host Shania and the 'Oprah' audience at our event."

"We are delighted that guests of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show' will be able to see firsthand that Gaylord Opryland Resort is back and more beautiful than ever after the devastating floods that hit Nashville this time last year," said Pete Weien, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Gaylord Opryland Resort. "We look forward to showing them the award-winning hospitality and outstanding service for which Opryland and the Gaylord Hotels brand is known."

Twain's docu-series on OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network, "Why Not? with Shania Twain," debuts Sunday and has been described as "revealing" and "emotionally riveting." Twain's first autobiography entitled From this Moment On is released today in bookstores across the country. The autobiography is published by Atria Books, an imprint of Simon and Schuster

Twain last appeared at CMA Music Festival in 1996, when it was still known as Fan Fair®. She will return in 2011 to sign copies of her autobiography at CMA Music Festival. With world-wide acclaim, a special CMA Music Festival offer was extended to Shania Twain fans through Oprah.com.

Twain rose to fame in the early 1990s with her debut album Shania Twain (1993), and achieved worldwide success with her 1997 albumCome On Over, which became the best-selling album of all time by a female musician, and the best selling Country Music album of all time.  A five-time Grammy award winner, Twain has also achieved major success as a songwriter, winning 27 BMI Songwriter awards. Despite the fact Twain has released very few albums, she has sold more than 75 million albums worldwide to date, including 48 million in the U.S. 

CMA Music Festival is held Thursday through Sunday, June 9-12, in the heart of Music City USA. The event supports music education in public schools through CMA's Keep the Music Playing campaign. To date, CMA has donated nearly $5 million to purchase instruments and equipment for Metro Nashville Public Schools on behalf of the artists who make appearances and perform for free.

For up-to-the-minute information about tickets, travel information, schedules, artist appearances and more, visit CMAfest.com, the official Internet home of CMA Music Festival. On CMAfest.com fans can buy four-day tickets (which includes all four Nightly Concerts at LP Field and the Fan Fair® Exhibit Hall) or single night tickets to the Nightly Concerts at LP Field, sign up for the CMA Exclusive e-news, watch helpful videos to make their CMA Music Festival experience better than ever, follow the CMA Facebook and Twitter feeds for more insider info and of course see the entire lineup of Country Music's biggest stars as they are announced for the event.