Country superstar Shania Twain says “it will be sad to say goodbye” to performing on stage when her summer farewell tour ends, but she wants her fans to know she will not stop making music.

Twain surprised fans earlier this week when she announced that her upcoming “Rock This Country” tour will be her last. The 48-city tour kicks off on June 5 in Seattle and includes stops in Vancouver, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, London, Hamilton, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal.

Twain acknowledged Thursday that the decision to stop touring was “big,” but said it was something she had been considering.

“It’s been coming for a little while,” Twain told CTV’s Canada AM. “So it’s not sudden for me.”

In fact, Twain thought that her two-year residency at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, which wrapped up last December, would mark her last public performances.

However, the stint “went by so fast and I wanted to make it last a little longer.

“This summer will be the perfect farewell and the perfect time for me to say goodbye to the stage,” she said.

“I’ll be sad to say goodbye, it will be an emotional time.”

Twain acknowledged feeling emotional when she started the Vegas residency, having previously gone through a public divorce and remarriage, as well as recovery from a condition that affected her vocal chords.

“Because I was in such a state emotionally in my personal life and feeling insecure about being a performer (and) hadn’t been on stage in a decade, I needed something that drastic to shake me out of it,” Twain told CTV Toronto.

But the tour will be an entirely different show than what more than 330,000 fans saw over 105 shows in Vegas and was captured on a new DVD released this week, she said.

The show will be “a little bit of a party” as the 49-year-old celebrates her career.

“I’m carrying the momentum over from the Las Vegas experience, bringing it to the live touring stage and enjoying that final hurrah,” Twain said. “It’s the after-party.”

Twain told Canada AM that she hopes to “get into the audience” a lot during the show.

“It’s going to be a rockin’ show, a party atmosphere,” Twain said, adding that she wants to “get into the audience as much as I can.”

Meanwhile, Twain wants to reassure fans that although she is retiring from the stage, she won’t stop making music.

She is recording a new album, which will be put on hold for the tour. She will resume recording after the summer, she said.

She is recording a new album, which will be put on hold for the tour. She will resume recording after the summer, she said. Twain turns 50 in August, and she would like her new album to hit stores before the end of the year.

“I’m not retiring by any means,” Twain said. “I’ve got so much to do musically.”