Quick Facts
- NAME: Alanis Morissette
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Television Actress, Songwriter, Singer
- BIRTH DATE: June 01, 1974 (Age: 37)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Ottawa, Canada
- ZODIAC SIGN: Gemini
Best Known For
Canadian musician Alanis Morissette’s 1995 album Jagged Little Pill established her as one of alternative rock's foremost female vocalists of the 1990s.
Alanis Morissette. (2012). Biography.com. Retrieved 05:04, May 16, 2012 from http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078
Alanis Morissette [Internet]. 2012. http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078, May 16
" Alanis Morissette." 2012. Biography.com 16 May 2012, 05:04 http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078
' Alanis Morissette', Biography.com,(2012) http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078 [accessed May 16, 2012]
" Alanis Morissette," Biography.com, http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078 (accessed May 16, 2012).
Alanis Morissette [Internet]. Biography.com; 2012 [cited 2012 May 16]. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078.
Alanis Morissette, http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078 (last visited May 16, 2012).
Alanis Morissette, http://www.biography.com/people/alanis-morissette-39078 (last visited May 16, 2012).
Synopsis
Musician Alanis Morissette was born June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Canada. Morissette began studying piano at age six and composing at seven; she wrote her first songs at nine. By age 10 she was acting in a series on Nickelodeon. She used her earnings to cut her first single. In 1995, her album Jagged Little Pill established her as one of alternative rock's foremost female vocalists of the 1990s.
Profile
Musician. On June 1, 1974, Alanis Nadine Morissette and her twin brother were born in Ottawa, Canada, to Alan and Georgia Morissette. Both of her parents worked in education, but from an early age, Morissette showed an aptitude for music. At age six, she began taking piano lessons, and by the time she was nine, she was writing her own songs.
When she was eleven, Morissette joined the cast of a Nickelodeon children's show called You Can't Do That on Television, and saved up her earnings. In 1987, she used them to self-release her first track, "Fate Stay With Me." Despite her young age, Morissette's music touched on themes of loneliness and heartache from the start: "Fate Stay With Me" is about lost love. The song caught the attention of record label MCA Canada; at age fourteen, Morissette signed a contract with the company. She released a self-titled album, Alanis, in 1991. The young singer then got her first taste of success: the album went platinum, and even garnered her a Canadian Juno Award for Most Promising Female Artist. Quickly following up on her first win in the dance-pop world, Morissette released Now Is The Time (1992) a year later, though it did not reach the same level of popularity.
Alanis Morissette's career blossomed once again when she made it to the United States. At age 18, she had moved to Toronto, but in 1994 she made a much bigger move — to Los Angeles. There, she began a search for a team of producers and collaborators to help her make a comeback from her commercially disappointing second album. Morissette teamed up with industry veteran Glen Ballard, and she began to approach songwriting more organically. Soon, she had moved away from the more conventional dance-pop songs she began with. "It was the beginning of a new way to approach songwriting altogether," Morissette explained. "I was old enough to be able to write autobiographically and stand by the philosophical subject matter in my songs."
The result of Morissette's collaboration with Ballard was Jagged Little Pill, which was released in 1995 by Maverick Records. With its edgy, alternative sound, the single "You Oughta Know" struck a strong chord with listeners. MTV was in its heyday, and the single received heavy airplay; demand for subsequent singles off Jagged Little Pill was steady. In 1996, the album won several Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
While the mid-1990s saw no shortage of outspoken female rock stars, Morissette seemed particularly to appeal to teenage audiences, who felt she had given them a genuine voice for their
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Included In These Groups
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Female Music Icons of the 1990s and New Millennium
View groupThe 1990s was the era of the riot grrrl, the rapper and Lilith Fair, which served to reshape traditional ideas of feminism. Artists such as Bikini Kill, Meg White, Queen Latifah and Lady Gaga were able to explore the formerly male-dominated areas of the music industry and become some of the leading voices of the industry. Whether in high-heels, stilettos, or army boots, these ladies stood toe-to-toe with any male artist of the day.
Female Music Icons of the 1990s and New Millennium 18 people in this group
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Famous Geminis 467 people in this group
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Famous Actresses 563 people in this group
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