Alanis Morissette is an influential Canadian singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and actress. Born June 1, 1974, in Ottawa, Ontario, Morissette found success as a teenager when she released her debut album, Alanis, in 1991. The release made her an important presence on the ’90s pop-rock scene and a feminist icon. Moving swiftly through the decades, Morissette has since released eight studio albums (including her iconic 1995 release, Jagged Little Pill) to critical and commercial success and countless sell-out world tours.
Morissette's family encouraged her to pursue a professional career in music, and assisted her in cultivating a multi-faceted career. Her father, Alan – an educator – managed her during early career. Her mother, Georgia – a housekeeper – managed her fan mail and acted as her chaperone on tour. Her two older brothers, Chad and Wade, were key in engineering her early success, as it was mostly their handsiwork that we must thank for Alanis' first two albums.
Their collective foundation of support opened the doors for international success to Royal Oak High School grad, Morissette. As an homage to her family, Morissette named her first album, Jagged Little Pill, after a lyric she composed reflecting her experience as self-discovery at sixteen.At eighteen, she signed a two-year deal with MCA Records and relocated to Los Angeles. She releasing her second album in 1992, titled Now Is the Time.
It took an international break with her third album for Morissette to be recognized in the long run - at home and around the world. Alanis secured a record deal with Maverick Records and released a landmark single, You Oughta Know, in 1995. It was embraced worldwide and debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 Chart. Her fourth album, Jagged Little Pill, was met with universal praise, earning her seven Grammy Awards as well as sales records not only in America, but all over the world.
Since then, Morissette's chart success, critical acclaim and whoa individuality have only proven one consistent thing - her music will always remain distinct from her contemporaries and her, unpredictably impressive, lyrical genius produces, intimate story telling sets this artist apart from so many.
Morissette's seventh studio album Havoc and Bright Lights, in 2012 permitted her universal legion of fans to further explor of her original music - the fruition of her ongoing, two-decade rollercoaster journey. After surviving heartache and professional muck in the interim, Morissette returned to Maverick albums and released her final -and eighth album- to date, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, in 2020. At least a few tracks convey the hauntingly beautiful optimism Morissette has synthesized throughout her musical career; the very thing that her fans cherishes most about her signature sound.
Morissette has become an important figure in the national and international feminist and socio-political dialogue. After blazing a ground-breaking path on the pop-rock scene during the ’90s, Alanis still remains culturally active in the 2000s. In honor of her philanthropic endeavors, she has been celebrated with a nomination for her induction to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2021. Throughout her thirty-year career, Morissette has harnessed courage and vulnerability in transforming pop-and-rock into a wildly experimental layer of spiritual growth and ultra modern story telling. It doesn’t seem that she will slow down any time soon.