  Alanis Morissette was born June
1, 1974 in Ottawa, Canada. By the time Alanis
was 23, she had become a popular dance singer
in her homeland, a teen member of a child's
television series, and a world-wide superstar
with the release of her first serious
collection of music called Jagged
Little Pill. With such diverse achievements
so soon in life, even Alanis has said she's
hard to categorize: "People have always
said I was an old soul. They said I was
always a little more intense and
introspective than everyone was used to
seeing girls to be, so they didn't know where
to categorize me." In her early youth,
Alanis's family moved around a lot, including
a stay in West Germany and attending a Roman
Catholic school. Alanis learned ballet, jazz
dancing, and the piano by the age of 7 and
writing songs for the fun of it by age 9.
With idols such as Olivia
Newton-John and George Michael, Alanis began her
showbiz career as a child actress, appearing
on the Nickelodeon TV show, You Can't Do
That On Television at age 11. She also
appeared in the 1993 film, Just
One Of The Girls.
Acting eventually led to a
successful singing career in Canada as a
young dance and pop diva. When Alanis was 11,
she released her first single in Canada,
"Fate Stay With Me." Although the
single was not successful, within 2 years
Alanis was signed with MCA. In 1991, Alanis
released her first LP in Canada, Alanis.
The dance and pop LP sold over 100,000 copies
in her native land and won her a Juno Award
for Most Promising Female Artist.
 Alanis released Now
Is The Time which also went platinum in
Canada. Although the first 2 recordings
Alanis released may be thought of as an
embarrassment for an up-and-coming
alternative rebellious singer, Alanis has few
regrets: "...I'm not scared people might
hear these records. I never did Playboy
centerfolds. There's nothing I regret. Maybe
people will just understand my lyrics a
little more if they hear those records. It
validates this record [Jagged
Little Pill]."
After moving to Los Angeles
Alanis met up with her eventual producer,
Glen Ballard. After meeting with several
songwriters that didn't click with what
Alanis wanted, Ballard was a welcome
surprise. Ballad has said of Alanis:
"What struck me about Alanis was that
she was so incredibly self-possessed. I just
connected with her as a person... She was so
intelligent and ready to take a chance on
doing something that might have no commercial
application. Although there was some
questions about what she wanted to do
musically, she knew what she didn't want to
do, which was anything that wasn't authentic
and from the heart."
 # 6
Singles Artist of the Year
 Alanis released Jagged
Little Pill on Madonna's Maverick Records
label. The lead-off single, "You Oughta Know" grew in
popularity on rock and alternative stations
with its gritty lyrics and frantic video.
"Most of the songs are in a roundabout
way actually addressed to myself... there's a
certain aspect of the songs that's very
confessional, very unadulterated. I wrote
some of the songs and woke up the next day
not even remembering I'd done them... almost
like a stream of consciousness. It was a very
unfettered, spiritual experience."
Eventually, pop radio began playing the track
and Alanis found her audiences expand. "Hand In My Pocket" continued
Alanis's success and her Top 10 LP soon
starting spending a number of weeks at #1.
Alanis had transformed herself from dance
music diva to a stripped-down in-your-face
performer. She stated: "I've been told a
few times now that I don't look like my
songs. People expect me to have purple hair
and a pierced nose and boobs. Then they meet
me, and I'm just... me. I hate to let anyone
down but I'm not the cleavage sort of
aesthetic babe. I've been down that road
before, and that's not what I'm about."
 Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"You Oughta Know."
Alanis topped the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks chart for 5 weeks with
"You Oughta Know."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified platinum.
Alanis hit the Top 10 with "You Oughta Know."
 Jagged
Little Pill was certified 2x platinum.
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Hand In My Pocket."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 3x platinum.
Alanis topped the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks chart for a week with
"Hand In My Pocket."
Jagged
Little Pill topped the Billboard Pop Albums
chart for 12 weeks.
Alanis hit the Top 10 with "Hand In My Pocket."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 4x platinum.
Alanis appeared on the cover of Rolling
Stone.
Jagged
Little Pill was the 3rd biggest selling LP
of the year with sales topping 4.2 million
during 1995.
 # 1
Singles Artist of the Year (# 1
Female Artist of the Year)
 The strength of Jagged
Little Pill continued with 3 #1 hits:
"Ironic," "Head Over Feet," and "You Learn." Alanis
maintained her rock and alternative fan-base,
but now had included pop radio listeners and
even adult contemporary fans. Madonna said of Alanis:
"She reminds me of me when I started
out... slightly awkward but extremely
self-possessed and straightforward. There's a
sense of excitement and giddiness in the air
around her... like anything's possible and
the sky's the limit."
 Alanis was nominated for 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock New Artist.
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Ironic."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 5x platinum.
Alanis won 4 Grammy
Awards for Album of the Year, Best Rock Album (Jagged
Little Pill), Best Rock Song (songwriter with Glen
Ballard) and Best Rock Vocal
Performance - Female ("You Oughta Know") and was also
nominated for Song of the Year and Best
New Artist.
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 6x platinum.
Alanis hit the Top
10
with "Ironic" and #1 by the end of the
month for a week.
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 7x platinum.
Alanis topped the Billboard
Modern Rock Tracks chart for 3 weeks with
"Ironic."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 8x platinum.
 Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"You Learn."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 9x platinum and
the single "Ironic" was certified
gold.
Jagged
Little Pill topped the UK LP charts for 8
weeks.
Alanis hit the Top 10 with "You Learn."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 11x platinum.
Alanis topped the Billboard Hot
100 Singles Airplay chart for 5 weeks with
"You Learn."
Alanis hit #1 for 2 weeks with
"You Learn."
 Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Head Over Feet."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 12x platinum.
The video for "Ironic" won 3 MTV Video Music
Awards for Best Female Video, Best New Artist, and Best Editing (Scott Grey) and was
also nominated for Video of the Year, Best Direction, and Viewer's Choice.
Alanis hit the Top 10 with "Head Over Feet."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 13x platinum.
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 14x platinum.
Alanis hit #1 for a week with "Head Over Feet."
By the end of the year Jagged
Little Pill was the best-selling
LP of the year with 7.4 million copies sold
in the U.S. Alanis considers Jagged
Little Pill her "real" debut LP,
and in the U.S., it is considered the
biggest-selling female debut LP of all-time.
 Alanis won 2 Billboard Music
Awards for Album of the Year and Artist of
the Year, 2 Billboard Music Video Awards for
Pop/Rock Clip and Pop/Rock New Artist Clip,
and a Brit Award for Best International
Newcomer.
 # 94
Singles Artist of the Year
Throughout Alanis's rise to
super-stardom, she toured constantly. The
results of her tour can be seen in the video Jagged
Little Pill Live.
Alanis won 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album (Jagged
Little Pill).
 Alanis won a Juno Award for
International Achievement, and was nominated
for 2 Grammy Awards for Record of the Year and Best Music Video, Short Form ("Ironic").
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 15x platinum.
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"All I Really Want."
 # 6
Singles Artist of the Year
Alanis won her 5th Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Long Form (Jagged
Little Pill Live) (with Steve Purcell).
 Radio and the Internet once
again got a jump start on new anticipated
music when a new Alanis song was leaked
several weeks before an official release. The
new song "Uninvited" appeared on the
soundtrack to City
Of Angels.
Alanis could also be heard on
the Dave
Matthews Band's LP Before
These Crowded Streets on 2 tracks,
"Spoon" and "Don't Drink The
Water."
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Uninvited."
 Alanis hit the Top 10 with "Uninvited."
Jagged
Little Pill was certified 16x platinum.
Alanis hit #1 with "Uninvited."
 The single, "Thank
U"
hit radio airwaves and Alanis talked with MTV
about the break between LPs and the first
single: "Basically, I had never stopped
in my whole life, hadn't taken a long breath,
and I took a year and a half off and
basically learned how to do that. When I did
stop and I was silent and I breathed... once
I got through everything that inevitably sort
of came up because I was silent and ready to
deal with things. I was just left with an
immense amount of gratitude, and inspiration,
and love, and bliss, and that's where the
song came from, you know." Alanis also
told the Los Angeles Times: "I
thought that fame and success would solve
your problems, that there would be a sense of
peace or self-esteem raised by having all
this external success... I basically let go
of so many things... coming to terms with the
fact that... I don't have to write another
lyric or poem or song ever again if I don't
want to."
Alanis hit the Top 40 and soon
the Top
10
with "Thank
U."
 Alanis's next LP, Supposed
Former Infatuation Junkie, debuted at #1 on the
Billboard 200 Albums chart (where it spent 2
weeks) with sales of over 460,000 copies,
setting a new record for 1-week sales by a
female artist.
Alanis hit #1
for 4 weeks with "Thank
U."
Alanis continued her in support
of Amnesty
International at a concert held in France
which also included Bruce
Springsteen, Tracy
Chapman, Radiohead, Peter Gabriel, Shania
Twain, Robert Plant,
Jimmy Page, and Youssou
N'dour. The concert was held to mark
the 50th anniversary of the United Nation's
Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Alanis was nominated for a
Golden Globe for Best Original Song for
"Uninvited."
Supposed
Former Infatuation Junkie was certified 3x
platinum.
 # 21
Singles Artist of the Year
 Alanis talked with CNN - on her
role as God in the film Dogma: "I had just
gotten off the road and I was tired and I
didn't think I'd be of any value to him. I
said no at first, but then as I kind of
rejuvenated, I checked back in with him and
he still hadn't cast the role of God... and I
said I'd love to do it and I did"... on
sudden fame: "I didn't laugh for about 2
years. I was just very overwhelmed by a lot
of it."
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Unsent."
Alanis won 2 more Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song (songwriter) and Best Rock Vocal
Performance - Female ("Uninvited") and was
nominated for Best Song Written Specifically
for a Motion Picture ("Uninvited").
 Alanis hit the Top
10 for
the 8th time with "Unsent."
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Joining
You."
Alanis could be heard on the
benefit LP No
Boundaries: A Benefit For The Kosovar
Refugees with a live version of
"Baba."
Ranked # 53 on VH1: 100
Greatest Women of Rock & Roll.
Alanis performed at Woodstock
'99 in Rome, New York.
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"So
Pure."
 Alanis and Tori
Amos teamed up for a 5-1/2 week
tour.
It was announced that Alanis's
first 2 LPs (Alanis and Now
Is The Time) which were hits in Canada,
would be re-released and Alanis doesn't seem
to mind: "I loved those albums although
I certainly couldn't sing any of those songs
now for obvious reasons."
The video for "Unsent" won a MuchMusic
Video Award for Best Director.
 Alanis was heard on the Dogma soundtrack (with
"Still") and her next release: Alanis
Unplugged.
Alanis hit the Top 40 with the
unplugged version of "That
I Would Be Good."
Jagged
Little Pill was named the Top Pop Album of
the 90's by Billboard magazine.
MTV: 100
Greatest Videos Ever Made includes
"Ironic" at # 42.
 # 121
Singles Artist of the Year
 Alanis
Unplugged was certified gold.
Alanis was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance -
Female
("Thank
U").
Alanis won Juno Awards for Best
Album (Supposed
Former Infatuation Junkie) and Best Video
("So
Pure").
 Alanis could be seen acting on
Broadway as part of The Vagina Monologues.
Alanis was acting again when she
guest starred on the HBO series Sex
In The City.
The video "So
Pure"
was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Choreography (Kevin Oda & Anne
White).
 Rolling Stone
& MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs includes "Ironic" at # 34.
Alanis was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal
Performance - Female ("So
Pure"
- live version from the Woodstock
'99 compilation).
VH1: 100
Greatest Videos includes:
# 18
- "Ironic"
and # 66
- "Thank U."
 Alanis took part in the benefit
concert Come
Together: A Night For John Lennon's Words
& Music.
Alanis was honored with the
Global Tolerance Award in New York City by
the Friends of the United Nations for her
efforts to promote tolerance.
 # 32
Singles Artist of the Year
 Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Hands Clean."
Alanis hit the Top 10 with "Hands Clean."
Alanis topped the Canadian
singles charts with "Hands Clean."
Alanis released Under
Rug Swept.
 Under
Rug Swept topped the Billboard 200 LP
chart and Top Internet Sales chart - selling
over 215,000 copies in the US its first week
of release.
Under
Rug Swept topped the LP charts in Canada.
Under
Rug Swept was certified platinum.
 Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Precious Illusions."
Rolling Stone:
50 Essential 'Woman In Rock' Albums includes Jagged
Little Pill at # 31.
 Alanis released a CD/DVD combo
set, Feast
On Scraps, which included a live concert
video and unreleased tracks.
Alanis was honored with the
Patrick Lippert Award for her activism.
 Alanis won a Juno Award for
Producer of the Year.
VH1: 100 Best
Songs of the Past 25 Years includes "You Oughta Know" at # 12.
 Rolling Stone:
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: # 327:
Jagged
Little Pill.
 # 100
Singles Artist of the Year
 Alanis released her next LP So-Called
Chaos.
Alanis topped the Billboard Top
Internet Albums chart with So-Called
Chaos.
Alanis hit the Top 40 with
"Everything."
Alanis could be heard on the
soundtrack (and seen in the film) for De-Lovely with "Let's Do It
(Let's Fall In Love)."
 Alanis teamed up with the Barenaked
Ladies for a joint tour in the US.
# 21 on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
 # 104
Singles Artist of the Year
 Alanis became a dual citizen
when she became an American citizen.
Alanis released Jagged
Little Pill Acoustic.
Alanis released a hits package The
Collection.
 Alanis hit the Top 40 with her
cover of Seal's "Crazy."
Alanis was nominated for a
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song for
"Wunderkind" from The
Chronicles Of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch,
And The Wardrobe.
 Alanis could be seen on several
episodes of FX's Nip/Tuck.
VH1: 100
Greatest Songs of the 90's included "You Oughta Know" at # 12.
Alanis' next LP Flavors
Of Entanglement was released.
Entertainment Weekly:
100 Best Albums of the Last 25 Years included Jagged
Little Pill at # 35.
 Alanis could be heard on the
compilation Songs
For Tibet - The Art Of Peace with the track
"Versions Of Violence."
Alanis won a Juno Award for Best
Pop Album.
 Alanis gave birth to a son.
Alanis released Havoc
And Bright Lights.
Alanis topped the Billboard Rock
Albums chart with Havoc
And Bright Lights.
 Live At Montreux
2012 was released.
iTunes
Amazon.mp3 |
Jagged Little Pill
 Released: June 13, 1995
US: 17x Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 1 (for 12 weeks)
Entertainment
Weekly: C+
Tracks: "All I Really Want" - "You Oughta Know" -
"Perfect" - "Hand In My Pocket" -
"Right Through You" -
"Forgiven" - "You Learn" - "Head Over Feet" - "Mary
Jane" - "Ironic" - "Not
The Doctor" - "Wake Up" -
"Untitled" |
|
Supposed Former
Infatuation Junkie
Released: November, 1998
US: 3x Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 1 (for 2 weeks)
Rolling Stone
review: - Entertainment
Weekly: B+
Tracks: "Front
Row" - "Baba" - "Thank U" - "Are
You Still Mad" - "Sympathetic
Character" - "That I Would Be
Good" - "The
Couch" - "Can't No" -
"Ur" - "I Was Hoping"
- "One" - "Would Not
Come" - "Unsent" - "So Pure" - "Joining You" - Heart Of
The House" - "Your
Congratulations" |
 |
Alanis Unplugged
Released: November, 1999
US: Gold
Billboard
peak:
# 63
Rolling Stone
review:
 - Entertainment
Weekly: B-
Unplugged Tracks: "You Learn" - "Joining You" - "No
Pressure Over Cappuccino" - "That I Would Be
Good" - "Head Over Feet" -
"Princes Familiar" - "I
Was Hoping" - "Ironic" -
"These R The Thoughts" -
"King Of Pain" - "You Oughta Know" - "Uninvited" |
|
Under Rug Swept
Released: February, 2002
US: Platinum
Billboard
peak:
# 1
Rolling Stone
review:
Tracks: "21 Things I
Want In A Lover" -
"Narcissus" - "Hands Clean" -
"Flinch" - "So
Unsexy" - "Precious Illusions" - "That
Particular Time" - "A Man"
- "You Owe Me Nothing In
Return" - "Surrendering" -
"Utopia" |
|
So-Called Chaos
Released: May, 2004
Billboard
peak:
# 5
Rolling Stone
review:
 - Entertainment
Weekly: C+
Tracks: "Eight Easy
Steps" - "Out Is Through"
- "Excuses" - "Doth I
Protest Too Much" - "Knees Of
My Bees" - "Not All Me" -
"So-Called Chaos" - "This
Grudge" - "Spineless" -
"Everything" |
|
Jagged Little Pill
Acoustic
Released: July, 2005
Billboard
peak:
# 50
Tracks: "All I Really Want" - "You Oughta Know" -
"Perfect" - "Hand In My Pocket" -
"Right Through You" -
"Forgiven" - "You Learn" - "Head Over Feet" - "Mary
Jane" - "Ironic" - "Not
The Doctor" - "Wake Up" |
|
The Collection
Released: November, 2005
Billboard
peak:
# 51
Tracks: "Thank U" - "Head Over Feet" - "8
Easy Steps" - "Everything"
- "Crazy" - "Hands Clean" -
"Princess Familiar" - "You Learn" -
"Simple Together" - "You Oughta Know" - "That I Would Be
Good" - "Sister
Blister" - "So Unsexy" -
"Hand In My Pocket" -
"Mercy" - "Still" -
"Uninvited" -
"Let's Do It" - "Ironic" |
|
Flavors Of Entanglement
Released: June, 2008
Billboard
peak:
# 8
Rolling Stone:  - Entertainment
Weekly: B+
Tracks: "Citizen Of
The Planet" - "Underneath"
- "Straitjacket" -
"Versions Of Violence" -
"Not As We" - "In Praise
Of The Vulnerable Man" -
"Moratorium" -
"Torch" - "Giggling Again
For No Reason" - "Tapes" -
"Incomplete" |
Amazon.mp3 |
Havoc And Bright Lights
Released: August, 2012
Billboard
peak:
# 5
Tracks:
"Guardian" - "Woman
Down" - "'Til You" -
"Celebrity" -
"Emptahy" - "Lens" -
"Spiral" - "Numb" -
"Havoc" - "Win And
Win" - "Receive" -
"Edge Of Evolution" |
|
Live At
Montreux 2012
Released: April 23, 2013
Live Tracks: "I
Remain" - "Woman Down" -
"All I Really Want" - "You
Learn" - "Guardian" -
"Flinch" - "Hands Clean" - "Ironic" -
"Havoc" - "Head Over Feet" -
"Versions Of Violence" - "You Oughta Know" -
"Numb" - "Hand In My Pocket" - "Thank U" |
Amazon.mp3
vinyl |
Such Pretty Forks In The
Road
Released: July 31, 2020
Billboard
peak:
# 16
Tracks: "Sandbox
Love" - "Diangosis" -
"Her" - "Missing The
Miracle" - "Ablaze" -
"Smiling" -
"Reckoning" - "Losing The
Plot" - "Pedestal" -
"Nemesis" - "Reasons I
Drink" |
Amazon.mp3 |
the storm before the
calm
Released: June 17, 2022
Tracks: "light-the
lightworker's lament" -
"heart-power of a soft heart" -
"explore-the other side of
stillness" - "space-pause on
violence" - "purification-the
alchemical crunch" -
"resore-calling generation X" -
"awakening-in between thoughts"
- "ground-i want to live." -
"safety-empath in paradise" -
"mania-resting in the fire" -
"vapor-amplified in stillness" |
| Note: Song title and
position links lead you to the song's Top
40 chart run (from the ARC Weekly Top
40)
and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound
samples). |
|
|
