Alanis Morissette

Alanis Morissette

Active - 1993 - 2015  |   Born - Jun 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada  |   Genres - Comedy, Music, Drama

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Biography by AllMovie

Pop vocal artist and composer Alanis Morissette gained fame when she signed with Madonna's Maverick Records and released Jagged Little Pill in 1995. However, her first experience with show business came long before her singing career. Born on June 1, 1974, in Ottawa, Canada, she appeared on the TV series You Can't Do That on Television! in the mid-'80s. Her musical skills had been honed since she began playing the piano at the age of six, and thus she began recording by the time she was ten. After spending time making an album in Toronto, she relocated to Hollywood, where she began working under Maverick and released Jagged Little Pill.

In 1998, she supplied the track "Uninvited" for the City of Angels soundtrack, and subsequently released another album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. Inspired and refreshed by a trip to India, the album proved reflective of the artist's deeper self, and she directed her own music videos for the songs "Unsent," "Joining You," and "So Pure," off of that album.

In 2000, Morissette made her big-screen debut in the role of roles -- playing God -- in Dogma. While the part was somewhat less than wordy, her charismatic persona provided a memorable and unexpected interpretation of the divinity, and earned her much attention in the movie business. She, and her prominent long locks, would return to the role for the sequel Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back in 2001.

She went on to appear in a handful of live performance documentaries, and appeared in a handful of episodes of the fourth season of Nip/Tuck. She later had a recurring role on Weeds.

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Factsheet

  • Twin brother Wade was born 12 minutes before her. 
  • Began playing piano at age 6 and writing songs at age 9.
  • Joined You Can't Do That on Television (a popular kid's show on Nickelodeon) at age 11.
  • Appeared on Star Search in 1988, singing the Osmond Brothers hit "One Bad Apple."  
  • Opened for Vanilla Ice in 1991. 
  • Released two dance-pop albums in Canada prior to her 1995 U.S. debut, Jagged Little Pill.
  • Sold in excess of 30 million copies of Jagged Little Pill, which remained in the Top 10 for 69 weeks.
  • Her breakthrough single "You Oughta Know" is said to have been inspired by a relationship/break-up with Full House actor Dave Coulier.
  • Became an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church in 2004.
  • Her 2007 YouTube parody of the Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" was viewed more than 13.5 million times.