Alanis Morissette

Morissette, Alanis Nadine
Alanis Morissette, singer, songwriter, performer (b at Ottawa 1 June 1974). After early studies in ballet, piano and jazz dance, Alanis Morissette was writing songs at age 9 and 2 years later released an independent single, "Fate Stay with Me," that received modest national airplay. She was a regular on the syndicated TV series You Can't Do That on Television before striking a creative partnership with Ottawa musician Leslie Howe from the recording group One to One (later Sal's Birdland).

After Morissette was signed to a publishing contract, Howe produced her major label debut, the dance-pop Alanis (1991). "Too Hot" and "Feel Your Love" spurred the album to platinum (100 000 units sold) in Canada, and Morissette won a JUNO AWARD as Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year. Now Is the Time (1992) was another high-energy dance album.

Released from her Canadian record deal, Alanis Morissette relocated to Los Angeles, where she was signed by pop singer Madonna's label, Maverick Records. Jagged Little Pill (1995) was a mature, compellingly frank collection of modern-rock originals that sold an astonishing 25 million copies worldwide. Singles such as "You Oughta Know" and "Ironic" established her as the intelligent and empowered voice of a generation. After a 2-year break during which she travelled to India, participated in several triathlons and made her acting debut (in the film Dogma), she teamed again with producer/co-writer Glenn Ballard to record the introspective, wordy and challenging Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998). The album garnered Best Album and Best Video awards at the 2000 Juno ceremonies. After appearing at the Woodstock '99 festival and touring with Tori Amos in the summer of 1999, Morissette released an album culled from the MTV Unplugged series that included her version of the Police's "King of Pain."

In the spring of 2001 she appeared in an off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues alongside Second City veteran Andrea MARTIN. Her third studio album, the self-produced Under Rug Swept, was released in 2002, and included the hit single "Hands Clean."

Morissette hosted the 2004 Juno Awards in Edmonton as a prelude to the launch of a new single ("Everything") and album (So-Called Chaos).

In 2005 she released 2 albums: Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, an unplugged recording that celebrated the 10th anniversary of her greatest success; and The Collection, a best-of anthology that featured one new recording - a version of "Crazy," originally a hit for the British singer Seal. She earned a new measure of hip credibility in 2007 when she recorded a parody version of the Black Eyed Peas' smash single "My Humps." Morissette's video of the song was viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube. Her seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement, was released in 2008 and produced by Guy Sigsworth (Bjork, Madonna, Bebel Gilberto).

Author JEFF BATEMAN

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