Alanis Morissette is a Canadian singer who currently holds seven Grammy awards. Morissette's name thundered around the world in 1995 when her album "Jagged Little Pill" was released. And he eventually became one of the best-selling in history, in 2018 they even staged a musical on it.
Alanis Morissette's childhood and career in Canada
The birthplace of Alanis Morissette is Ottawa, the capital of Canada. She was born here in June 1974. The father of the future singer worked as an ordinary school principal, and her mother as a teacher. Alanis was not the only child in the family; she has siblings Wade and Chad.
At six, Alanis began to play the piano, and from nine began to try to compose her songs. At the age of ten, she first appeared on television as a participant in a children's show on the Nickelodeon channel.
When the young singer was fourteen, MCA Canada signed her first contract in her biography. And already in 1991, this company published the debut album Morissette - it was called "Alanis". The record consisted of light dance compositions and romantic ballads. In Canada, it sold over 100, 000 copies. For "Alanis", the singer was awarded the Canadian Juno Award, but outside of her native country, Morissette was still almost unknown.
In 1992, the singer released the second longplay - "Now Is the Time". It was similar in general mood to "Alanis", but its circulation was about half that.
"Jagged Little Pill" and other albums of the second half of the nineties
Trying to reach a new level, Alanis Morissette moved to Los Angeles. Here in 1994 she met her musician Glen Ballard, and very soon they decided to record the disc together. Moreover, rock was chosen as the main genre for future songs. Ballard became not only the producer of the legendary album "Jagged Little Pill", but also the co-author of the music. In addition, for several tracks, he personally recorded instrumental parts.
In the spring of 1995, Alanis Morissette signed a contract with the record company Maverick Records, and in the summer the album "Jagged Little Pill" was presented to the public. Thanks to the audio single "You Oughta Know", which he managed to smuggle to major radio stations, the album became a hit, beat the lead on the Billboard 200 charts and made Alanis famous. Today, the total circulation of "Jagged Little Pill" has reached about 30 million copies (16 million of them were purchased in the United States).
In 1996, Alanis was nominated for a Grammy in six different nominations. And in four of them the victory went to her.
The next album, Alanis Morissette, was released in 1998 - the long title "Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie" was chosen for him. In total, seven million copies of this album were sold. And perhaps the most famous song on it is the song “Thank U”, released as a separate single.
In the same 1998, the Hollywood movie "City of Angels" appeared in the box office, in which, among other things, Morissette's lyrical composition "Uninvited" was performed.
In early 1999, Alanis replenished the list of her awards - she was awarded two more Grammy awards (in the prestigious nominations for "Best Female Rock Vocal" and "Best Rock Song").
In the fall of 1999, Morissett's live acoustic album MTV Unplugged, recorded at a New York concert, appeared on store shelves. And this work of the singer was also commercially in demand.
Creativity Alanis at the beginning of the XXI century
In 2002, Morissette proposed another studio album, "Under Rug Swept", to the public. In this album, the singer continued a frank conversation about the relationship of men and women. Longplay "Under Rug Swept" quickly became one of the leaders of the chart in the United States. The greatest success among the listeners was enjoyed by two audio singles from this disc - "Precious Illusions" and "Hands Clean". It is worth noting that during the promotional campaign in support of "Under Rug Swept" the singer staged a grand world tour, took part in many TV programs, and acted as headliner for a number of charity concerts.
In November 2003, Alanis decided to take a break from musical creativity and concentrated on acting. During this period, for example, she played the main role in the play "Liberated" - the role of a woman sentenced to death, who was suddenly released from prison.
"So-called Chaos", the sixth Morissette album, was released in 2004. Around the same time, the singer shared the news that she was engaged to film actor Ryan Reynolds (he is known to viewers outside the United States primarily for his role as a superhero Deadpool). Alas, three years later, this engagement was canceled - before the wedding, it never came.
And in 2004, Morissette appeared in a tiny role in the movie "Pet" (this tape tells about the fate of the legendary composer Cole Porter). In addition, as a soundtrack, there is a cover version of Morissette for one of Porter's songs.
