Shania Twain can relate to Taylor Swift’s massive successes and busy touring schedule. As the country icon celebrates 25 years of her blockbuster Come on Over album, she opened up in a new cover story interview with Haute Living about paving the way for other women in music and praised Swift’s work ethic as well as her passion.

“It wasn’t like I intended on being a trailblazer or anything; I never even realized I would be,” Twain, 58, told the outlet. “I was just trying to be original, my authentic self, and to do it with conviction. I’m an expressive person, and I put that into my music. I was saying it with attitude and with confidence because I meant it.”

The “You’re Still the One” singer said it’s a “compliment” to be called a trailblazer, though she didn’t see her career path heading in that direction in the beginning: “I was just being myself, and I think that’s served me very well.”

Of course, artists including Swift, 34, have given Twain her flowers over the years for inspiring them, and she returned the favor in the Haute Living interview. “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,” she said of the “Karma” musician.h-a-n-h

Taylor Swift and Shania Twain in Tennessee in June 2011. h-a-n-h
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