LeAnn Rimes Quits Twitter, Starts Changing Diapers
"Taking a break from twitter for a while," LeAnn Rimes announced to her more than 55,000 Twitter followers on Wednesday. "It's unhealthy for me and my family to have to read negative comments from people [whose] opinions have no bearing on my life. I love my fans so very much and will return one day soon."
LeAnn's Twitter hiatus comes on the heels of a wave of negative press surrounding her relationship with actor Eddie Cibrian -- a relationship that started when both were still married and continues to play out in the media, thanks to relentless paparazzi and continued backlash against the way the two have now gone public with their love. The latest tabloid headlines that were likely the final straw for LeAnn came this week, as photos of the bikini-clad singer kissing Eddie in front of his young son surfaced. "Since when is kissing your boyfriend a crime?" LeAnn tweeted in response. "[Whose] right was it to take pics of us in a private moment and display them for judgment?!"
The newly-divorced songbird now plans to focus on "healing, happiness and music," with a big part of that happiness coming in two small packages.
"My boyfriend has two children who are seven and three, so I'm helping take care of them and raise them, which is amazing and something I totally didn't expect to have in my life," LeAnn tells CMT. "But I've been truly open to it, and the kids are so respectful with me and super cool. I cook a lot, do a lot of laundry. In the past year I have really learned how to cook and I love it. It's grounding for me ... Changing diapers is grounding!"
LeAnn has also discovered a wonderful new balance in her busy life, being around the boys at home.
"It's fun to be around kids," she gushes. "They loosen the world up a little bit. It's not so serious, and that's nice because Eddie and I have to take care of so much and we have so much responsibility, especially when you're out in the world and you have your own business. So it's nice to come home and have it just be kids. It takes your mind off other things!"
Other things would obviously include LeAnn's highly anticipated new album, 'Lady and Gentlemen,' produced by Vince Gill. The album includes remakes of Vince's 'When I Call Your Name,' Freddy Fender's 'Wasted Days and Wasted Nights' (sung in Spanish) Kris Kristofferson's 'Help Me Make It Through the Night,' Waylon Jennings' 'Good Hearted Woman' (sung as the female narrator), John Conlee's 'Rose Colored Glasses,' Merle Haggard's 'I Cant Be Myself,' George Jones' 'He Stopped Loving Her Today' ... and a Vince Gill and the Time Jumpers super-retro remake of LeAnn's own blockbuster smash, 'Blue.'
And LeAnn is ecstatic that her "biggest critic" has wept tears over her collection of favorite classic country songs that were originally sung by men.
"My Dad just heard it the other day and he cried," says LeAnn. "He's so proud of it. He is so hardcore when it comes to loving old-school country. If I didn't offend him with anything we've changed, hopefully no one else will be. I mean, I got it past my biggest critic -- and he loves it!
"My dad was the one who raised me on that country music," LeAnn continues. "I listened to a lot of those types of men that he grew up on -- Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Hank Williams ... It was my dad who turned me to the light. To hear all these men sing these songs, you know they've lived them. There's a raw energy that you don't hear in a lot of women songs, because a lot of women at that time had to be very proper. You didn't let it kind of hang out, and you didn't tell the truth -- not until Tammy Wynette and those very strong women."
LeAnn's remake of the John Anderson classic, 'Swingin' is the lead single from her new album, 'Lady and Gentlemen,' scheduled for an October 5 release, and on vinyl, September 30.
"There's a million other ways to stay connected with my fans and I plan to focus on those!" LeAnn says in her last message before going on Twitter hiatus. "The most important, bringing you great music!"
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