Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette was born in Ottawa, Canada, on June 1, 1974. She began studying piano at age 6 and was writing songs by age 9. At age 10, she appeared on Nickelodeon’s “You Can’t Do That on Television,” using her earnings to release her first single. By 14, she secured a song-publishing deal and released two dance-pop albums in Canada: “Alanis” (1991), which sold over 100,000 copies and earned her a Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist, and “Now Is the Time” (1992).

After high school, Morissette moved to Los Angeles and collaborated with producer Glen Ballard. Together, they wrote and recorded “Jagged Little Pill,” released in 1995 by Madonna’s Maverick Records. This album sold over 16 million copies in the U.S. and topped charts worldwide, establishing Morissette as a leading female vocalist in alternative rock. In 1996, “Jagged Little Pill” won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song (for “You Oughta Know”), and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance (for “You Oughta Know”). Morissette’s success was credited with opening doors for other female artists.

Her follow-up album, “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie” (1998), co-produced with Ballard, debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, setting a record for first-week sales by a female artist at the time. She continued to write and produce her own music, releasing “Under Rug Swept” (2002), which also debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and featured the hit single “Hands Clean.” Morissette has released several more albums, including “So-Called Chaos” (2004), “Flavors of Entanglement” (2008), “Havoc and Bright Lights” (2012), “Such Pretty Forks in the Road” (2020), and “The Storm Before the Calm” (2022). She has also engaged in acting roles, playing God in Kevin Smith’s “Dogma” (1999) and appearing in TV series like “Weeds” and “The Great North.”