Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette biography

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination. Morissette began her career in Canada, and as a teenager recorded two dance-pop albums, Alanis and Now Is the Time, under MCA Records Canada.

Her first international album was the rock-influenced Jagged Little Pill, released in 1995. Jagged has sold more than 33 million units globally. Her following album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was released in 1998 and was a success as well. Morissette took up producing duties for her subsequent albums, which include Under Rug Swept, So-Called Chaos and Flavors of Entanglement. Morissette has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.

Morissette acquired United States citizenship in 2005.

Early life

Morissette was born June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Georgia Mary Ann (née Feuerstein), a teacher of Hungarian descent, and Alan Richard Morissette, a French-Canadian high school principal. She has a twin brother, Wade Morissette, (also a musician) who was born 12 minutes after her. Morissette was raised Catholic. She attended Glebe Collegiate Institute (Ottawa, Canada) for high school.

1987: First Demo

Alanis recorded her first demo called "Fate Stay With Me" at Marigold Studios in Toronto, engineered by Rich Dodson of Canadian classic rock band, The Stampeders.

1990-92: Early career

In 1991 MCA Records Canada released Morissette's debut album, Alanis, in Canada only. Morissette co-wrote every track on the album with its producer, Leslie Howe. By the time it was released, she had dropped her stage name and was credited simply as Alanis. The dance-pop album went platinum, and its first single, "Too Hot", reached the top twenty on the RPM singles chart. Subsequent singles "Walk Away" and "Feel Your Love" reached the top 40. Morissette's popularity, style of music and appearance, particularly that of her hair, led her to become known as the Debbie Gibson of Canada; comparisons to Tiffany were also common. During the same period, she was a concert opening act for rapper Vanilla Ice. Morissette was nominated for three 1992 Juno Awards: Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year (which she won), Single of the Year and Best Dance Recording (both for "Too Hot").

In 1992, she released her second album, Now Is the Time, a ballad-driven record that featured less glitzy production than Alanis and contained more thoughtful lyrics. With her two-album deal with MCA Records Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract.

1993-97: Move to Los Angeles and Jagged Little Pill

In 1993 Morissette's publisher Leeds Levy at MCA Music Publishing introduced her to manager Scott Welch. Welch told HitQuarters he was impressed by her "spectacular voice", her character and her lyrics. At the time she was still living at home with her parents. Together they decided it would be best for her career to move to Toronto and start writing with other people. After graduating from high school, Morissette moved from Ottawa to Toronto. Her publisher funded part of her development and when she met producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, he believed in her talent enough to let her use his studio. The two wrote and recorded Morissette's first internationally released album, Jagged Little Pill, and by the spring of 1995, she had signed a deal with Maverick Records. According to manager Welch every label they had approached had passed on Morissette apart from Maverick.

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