# Alanis Morissette

| Alanis Morissette |
| --- |
|  |
| Background information |
| Birth name | Alanis Nadine Morissette |
| Born |  (1974-06-01) June 1, 1974 |
| Origin | Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Genres | Rock, Dance-pop, Alternative |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter, actress, record producer |
| Instruments | * Vocals
* guitar
* harmonica
* keyboards
* flute
 |
| Years active | 1987–present |
| Website | www.alanis.com |

**Alanis Nadine Morissette** (born June 1, 1974) is a Grammy Award-winning Canadian-American singer and songwriter. She was born in Ottawa, Canada. She began singing in Canada as a teenager in 1990. In 1995, she became popular all over the world.

As a young child in Canada, Morissette began to act on television, including 5 episodes of the long-running series, *You Can't Do That on Television*. Her first album was released only in Canada in 1990.

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

She also acted in several movies, including Kevin Smith's *Dogma*, where she played God.

## About her life

Alanis Morissette was born in Riverside Hospital of Ottawa in Ottawa, Ontario. Her father is French-Canadian. Her mother is from Hungary. She has an older brother, Chad, and a twin brother, Wade, who is 12 minutes younger than she is. Her parents had worked as teachers at a military base in Lahr, Germany.

Morissette became an American citizen in 2005. She is still a Canadian citizen.

On May 22, 2010, Morissette married rapper Mario "MC Souleye" Treadway.

## Jagged Little Pill

Morissette has had many albums. Her 1995 album *Jagged Little Pill* became a very popular album. It has sold over 30 million copies worldwide. The album caused Morissette to win four Grammy Awards. Many reviewers had positive things to say.

On the album, Morissette sang songs about many different things. These things include:

* love (in the song "Head Over Feet")
* life (in the songs "Ironic" and "You Learn")
* her feelings (in the songs "Hand In My Pocket" and "All I Really Want")
* sadness (in the song "Mary Jane")
* anger (in the song "You Oughta Know")
* frustration (in the songs "Not the Doctor" and "Wake Up")

## Discography

### Albums

* *Alanis* (Canada-only, 1991)
* *Now Is the Time* (Canada-only, 1992)
* *Jagged Little Pill* (1995)
* *Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie* (1998)
* *Alanis Unplugged* (1999)
* *Under Rug Swept* (2002)
* *Feast on Scraps* (CD/DVD, 2002)
* *So-Called Chaos* (2004)
* *Jagged Little Pill Acoustic* (2005)
* *Alanis Morissette: The Collection* (2005)
* *Flavors of Entanglement* (2008)
* *Havoc and Bright Lights* (2012)

### Selected songs

Morissette has written many songs. Some of her most famous songs are:

* "You Oughta Know" - This song is to Morissette's ex-boyfriend, a man she once loved. In this song, Morissette is very angry. She wants her ex-boyfriend to know that he caused many problems after leaving her for another woman.
* "Ironic" - This song is about life. It contains several stories about unlucky people. In one of the stories, a man is afraid of flying on airplanes. He finally flies in one, but the airplane crashes.
* "You Learn" - In this song, Morissette says that bad things happen in life, but people learn from them. Anyone can make bad things into good things. She wants people to try new things in life.
* "Uninvited" - In this song, Morissette is not happy because she is famous. She does not know whether she wants to continue to be famous or not.
* "Thank U" - In this song, she thanks many things that have helped her. She thanks India, a country she visited and almost died in. She also lists ways she can improve herself.
* "Hands Clean" - In this song, a man does something bad, and tells Morissette not to tell anyone else the bad thing the man did. She hides the man's secret for many years.

## Other websites

* Official website
* Alanis Morissette on IMDb