Alanis MorissetteAlanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. She has won 12 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards. Morissette began her career in Canada, and as a teenager recorded two dance-pop albums, Alanis Alanis (album) and Now Is the Time, under MCA Records. Her debut album was the rock rock music -influenced Jagged Little Pill, which remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist in the U.S., and the highest selling debut album worldwide, selling 30 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 40 million albums worldwide. In February 2005, Morissette became a naturalized citizen Naturalization of the United States while maintaining her Canadian citizenship. At a New York City audition, Morissette landed a spot on Star Search, a U.S. talent competition on which she used the stage name of 'Alanis Nadine,' her first and middle names. Morissette flew to Los Angeles Los Angeles, California to appear on the show, but lost after one round. In 1988, Morissette signed a publishing deal with MCA Publishing, which helped to fund her record deal with one of its independent subsidiary labels. 1990–1992: Alanis and Now Is the Time MCA Records released Morissette's debut album, Alanis Alanis (album) , in Canada only in 1991, and 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 platinum album , and its first single, "Too Hot", reached the top twenty on the RPM RPM (magazine) singles chart. Subsequent singles "Walk Away Walk Away (Alanis Morissette song) " and "Feel Your Love" reached the top forty. Morissette's popularity, style of music and appearance, particularly that of her hair, led her to become known as the Debbie Gibson of Canada; Morissette was nominated for three 1992 Juno Awards: Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year Juno Award for Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year (which she won), Single of the Year Juno Award for Single of the Year and Best Dance Recording Juno Award for Best Dance Recording (both for "Too Hot"). In 1992, she released her second album, Now Is the Time, a ballad ballad (music) -driven record that featured less glitzy production than Alanis and contained more thoughtful lyrics. With her two-album deal with MCA Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract. 1993–1997: Move to Los Angeles and Jagged Little Pill In 1993, after graduating from high school, Morissette moved from Ottawa to Toronto. The song instantly garnered attention for its scathing, explicit lyrics, making it the third biggest selling album by a female artist, and the biggest selling debut album (though technically is it Alanis's international debut, not her first album) of all time. Morissette's popularity grew significantly in Canada, where the album was certified twelve times platinum Morissette's success with Jagged Little Pill was credited with leading to the introduction of female singers such as Shakira, Tracy Bonham, Meredith Brooks, Patti Rothberg and, in the early 2000s, Pink Pink (singer) and fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne. She was criticised for collaborating with producer and supposed image-maker Ballard, and her previous albums also proved a hindrance for her respectability. Morissette and the album won six Juno Awards in 1996: Album of the Year Juno Award for Album of the Year , Single of the Year Juno Award for Single of the Year ("You Oughta Know"), Female Vocalist of the Year Juno Award for Female Vocalist of the Year , Songwriter of the Year Juno Award for Songwriter of the Year and Best Rock Album Juno Award for Best Rock Album . At the 1996 Grammy Awards, she won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song (both for "You Oughta Know"), Best Rock Album and Album of the Year Grammy Award for Album of the Year . Later in 1996, Morissette embarked on an eighteen-month world tour in support of Jagged Little Pill, beginning in small clubs and ending in large venues. Taylor Hawkins, who later joined the Foo Fighters, was the tour's drummer. "Ironic" was nominated for two 1997 Grammy Awards—Record of the Year and Best Music Video, Short Form—and won Single of the Year at the 1997 Juno Awards, where Morissette also won Songwriter of the Year and the International Achievement Award. The video Jagged Little Pill, Live, which was co-directed by Morissette and chronicled the bulk of her tour, won a 1998 Grammy Award Grammy Awards of 1998 for Best Music Video, Long Form. Following the stressful tour, Morissette started practicing Iyengar Yoga for balancing, and after the last December 1996 show, she headed to India for six weeks, accompanied by her mother, two aunts and two female friends. 1998–2000: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and Alanis Unplugged Morissette was featured as a guest vocalist on Ringo Starr's cover of "Drift Away" on his 1998 album, Vertical Man, and on the songs "Don't Drink the Water Don't Drink the Water (Dave Matthews Band song) " and "Spoon Spoon (Dave Matthews Band song) " on the Dave Matthews Band album Before These Crowded Streets. She recorded the song "Uninvited Uninvited (song) " for the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Although the track was never commercially released as a single, it received widespread radio airplay in the U.S. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, it won in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media. Later in 1998, Morissette released her fourth album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which she wrote and produced with Glen Ballard. Privately, the label hoped to sell a million copies of the album on initial release; The wordy, personal lyrics on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie alienated many fans, and after the album sold considerably less than Jagged Little Pill, many labelled it an example of the sophomore jinx. However, it received positive reviews, including a four-star review from Rolling Stone. In Canada, it won the Juno Award for Best Album and was certified four times platinum. "Thank U", the album's only major international hit single, was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; the music video, which featured Morissette ***, generated mild controversy. Morissette herself directed the videos for "Unsent" and "So Pure", which won, respectively, the MuchMusic Video Award for Best Director Best Director (MMVA Award) and the Juno Award for Video of the Year Juno Award for Video of the Year . The "So Pure" video features actor Dash Mihok, with whom Morissette was in a relationship at the time. During summer 1999, Alanis toured with singer/songwriter Tori Amos on the 5 And A Half Weeks Tour in support of Amos' album To Venus And Back. 2001–2003: Under Rug Swept and Feast On Scraps In 2001, Morissette was featured with Stephanie McKay on the Tricky song "Excess", which is on his album Blowback Blowback (album) . Morissette released her fifth studio album, Under Rug Swept, in February 2002. For the first time in her career, she took on the role of sole writer and producer of an album. Her band, comprising Joel Shearer Pedestrian (band) , Nick Lashley, Chris Chaney, and Gary Novak, played the majority of the instruments; additional contributions came from Eric Avery, Dean DeLeo, Flea Flea (musician) , and Meshell Ndegeocello. Shortly after recording the album Morissette essentially fired this whole band by proposing a huge pay cut (at least 50% for most members) while offering the drummer, Gary Novak, a slightly smaller pay cut but an increase in work and responsibility. This effectively ended the band as it was, and an entirely new band was hired shortly after, featuring Jason Orme, Zac Rae, David Levita, and Blair Sinta, who have been with her since. Under Rug Swept debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going platinum in Canada and selling one million copies in the U.S. A second single, "Precious Illusions," was released, but it did not garner significant success outside Canada or U.S. hot AC radio. Later in 2002, Morissette released the combination package Feast on Scraps, which includes a DVD of live concert and backstage documentary footage directed by her and a CD containing eight previously unreleased songs from the Under Rug Swept recording sessions. Preceded by the single "Simple Together," it sold roughly 70,000 copies in the U.S. and was nominated for a Juno Award for Music DVD of the Year Juno Award for Music DVD of the Year . 2004–2005: So-Called Chaos, Jagged Little Pill Acoustic and The Collection Morissette hosted the Juno Awards of 2004 dressed in a bathrobe, which she took off to reveal a flesh-coloured bodysuit, a response to the era of censorship in the U.S. caused by Janet Jackson's breast-reveal incident during the Super Bowl ***VIII halftime show. Two other singles, "Out Is Through" and "Eight Easy Steps", fared considerably worse commercially than "Everything", although a dance mix remix of "Eight Easy Steps" was a U.S. club nightclub hit. Morissette embarked on a U.S. summer tour with long-time friends and fellow Canadians Bare*** Ladies, working with the non-profit environmental organization Reverb Reverb (non-profit) . To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jagged Little Pill, Morissette released a studio acoustic Steel-string guitar version, Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, in June 2005. The album was released exclusively through Starbucks' Hear Music retail concept through their coffee shops for a six-week run. The limited availability led to a dispute between Maverick Records and HMV HMV Group plc North America, who retaliated by removing Morissette's other albums from sale for the duration of Starbucks's exclusive six-week sale. Jagged Little Pill Acoustic sold around 300,000 copies in the U.S., and a video for "Hand in My Pocket" received rotation on VH1 in America. The accompanying tour ran for two months in mid 2005, with Morissette playing small theatre venues. During the same period, Morissette was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame. Morissette opened for The Rolling Stones for a few dates of their A Bigger Bang Tour in the autumn of 2005. Morissette released the greatest hits album Alanis Morissette: The Collection in late 2005. The lead single and only new track, a cover of Seal Seal (musician) 's "Crazy Crazy (Seal song) ," was a U.S. adult top 40 and dance hit, but it achieved only minimal chart success elsewhere, as did the album. A limited edition of The Collection features a DVD including a documentary with videos of two unreleased songs from Morissette's 1996 Can't Not Tour: "King of Intimidation" and "Can't Not." (A reworked version of "Can't Not" had also appeared on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.) The DVD also includes a ninety-second clip of the unreleased video for the single "Joining You." Morissette contributed the song "Wunderkind Wunderkind (song) " to the soundtrack of the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song . 2006–present: Flavors of Entanglement 2006 marked the first year in Morissette's musical career without a single concert appearance showcasing her own songs, with the exception of an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992 TV series) in January when she performed "Wunderkind". On 1 April 2007, Morissette released a tongue-in-cheek cover of The Black Eyed Peas's selection "My Humps," which she recorded in a slow, mournful voice, accompanied only by a piano. The accompanying YouTube-hosted video, in which she dances provocatively with a group of men and hits the ones who attempt to touch her "lady lumps," had received 16,465,653 views on 15 February 2009. Morissette did not take any interviews for a time to explain the song, and it was theorized that she did it as an April Fools' Day joke. Black Eyed Peas vocalist Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson Fergie (singer) responded by sending Morissette a buttocks-shaped cake with an approving note. On the verge of the release of her latest album, she finally elaborated on how the video came to be, citing that she became very much emotionally loaded while recording her new songs one after the other and one day she wished she could do a simple song like "My Humps" in a conversation with Guy Sigsworth and the joke just took a life of its own when they started working on it. (The NHL requires arenas to perform both the American and Canadian national anthems at games involving teams from both countries) In early 2008, Morissette participated in a tour with Matchbox Twenty and MUTEMATH as a special guest. Morissette's seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement, which was produced by Guy Sigsworth, was released in mid 2008. She has stated that in late 2008, she would embark on a North American headlining tour, but in the meantime she would be promoting the album internationally by performing at shows and festivals and making television and radio appearances. The album's first single was "Underneath Underneath (song) ", a video for which was submitted to the 2007 Elevate Film Festival, the purpose of which festival was to create documentaries, music videos, narratives and shorts regarding subjects to raise the level of human consciousness on the earth. On 3 October 2008, Morissette released the video for her latest single, "Not as We". Recently, Morissette has contributed to 1 Giant Leap, performing "Arrival" with Zap Mama and she has released an acoustic version of her song "Still" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief in support of the 2010 Haiti earthquake crisis. Morissette has also recorded a cover of the 1984 Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias hit, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", re-written as "To All the Boys I've Loved Before". Nelson played rhythm guitar on the recording.In 1986, Morissette had her first stint as an actress: eighteen episodes of the children's television show You Can't Do That on Television. She appeared on stage with the Orpheus Musical Theatre Society in 1985 and 1988. In 1993, she appeared in the film Just One of the Girls starring Corey Haim, which she described as "horrible". She expanded her acting credentials with the July 2004 release of the Cole Porter biographical film De-Lovely, in which she performed the song "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" and had a brief role as an anonymous stage performer. In February 2005, she made a guest appearance on the Canadian television show Degrassi: The Next Generation with Dogma co-star Jason Mewes and director Kevin Smith. In 2006, she guest starred in an episode of Lifetime Lifetime Television 's Lovespring International as a homeless woman named Lucinda, three episodes of FX FX Networks 's Nip/Tuck, playing a *** named Poppy, and the mockumentary/documentary Pittsburgh Pittsburgh (2006 film) as herself. It was announced on Morissette's website that she will be starring in a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel Radio Free Albemuth Radio Free Albemuth (film) . Morissette will play Sylvia, an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma. She said she was a "big fan" of Dick's books, which she called "poetic and expansively imaginative", and said she "feel[s] blessed to portray Sylvia, and to be part of this story being told in film" . It was announced in May 2009 that Morissette had been cast in at least seven episodes of Weeds Weeds (TV series) , playing Dr. Audra Kitson, a "no-nonsense obstetrician" who treats pregnant main character Nancy Botwin. These episodes aired from June June 2009 to August 2009. In early 2010 Morissette returned to the stage, performing a one night engagement in An Oak Tree, an experimental play in Los Angeles. The performance was a sell out.During 1993, Morissette dated Dave Coulier of television's Full House fame. Apparently the relationship became strained because of the couple's work schedules, and because younger brother, Tony, did not approve. Between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, Morissette suffered from anorexia anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa, which were catalysed by "hardcore" professional pressure and managerial demands from her work towards making her first album. She recalled returning to the studio to re-record some vocals, only to be told that the person who summoned her there wanted to discuss her weight, and that she couldn't be successful if she was fat. She lived on a diet of carrots, black coffee and Melba toast, and her weight fluctuated fifteen to twenty pounds. She subsequently began therapy, which she called "a long process to un-program [my brain]. I try to remember, whatever my body is, it's perfect the way it is". By mid 2004, Morissette had become an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church, a religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate ordination as a minister free of charge. In 2002 she began dating actor Ryan Reynolds. In June 2004, Morissette announced her engagement. In June 2006, People People (magazine) magazine reported that Morissette and Reynolds had split, but neither party confirmed the report. The following month, a source said that they were together. Contact Music reported that their split was a "rumour" and they were pictured holding hands in Los Angeles. In February 2007, representatives for Morissette and Reynolds announced that they had mutually decided to end their engagement. In 2007-2009 she dated environmental lawyer Tom Ballanco. Since October 2009 she has been dating musician Mario Treadway (MC Souleye). In her May 2004 interview to the British newspaper The Mirror The Daily Mirror she discussed her past relationships, having dated a twenty-nine year-old man at age fourteen and, briefly, her experiences with drugs. In the article, she was quoted as saying: "My addictions were work and food. I smoked pot Cannabis sativa once in a while, but I'm too much of a control freak to be a drug person". In February 2005, Morissette became a naturalized citizen of the United States while maintaining her Canadian citizenship. Morissette refers to herself as a Canadian-American. In a Rolling Stone interview she revealed that she was going to spend 2006 working on a memoir. She said of her book, "it will be all the wisdom I've accrued in the thirty-one years of my life [...] A lot about relationships, fame, travel, body-image issues, spirit — with a lot of self-deprecating humor peppered throughout, 'cause I just can't help it". As of May 2008, Morissette was halfway through writing this memoir that will focus on women's issues. It will have chapters on ***uality, beauty, relationships and work and was partially inspired by young women who regularly come up to her and tell her their stories of personal pain. In early 2009, after reading Dr. Joel Fuhrman's Joel Fuhrman book Eat to Live, Morissette adopted a vegan diet which helped her lose weight and get healthy. In the autumn of 2009 Morissette ran the Bizz Johnson Trail Marathon (11 October 2009) in 4:17:03. She raised over $3,000 for the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) for this race. Three weeks later, she ran the New York City Marathon (1 November 2009) in 4:28:45.* Alanis Alanis (album) (1991) * Now Is the Time (1992) * Jagged Little Pill (1995) * Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998) * Alanis Unplugged (1999) * Under Rug Swept (2002) * So-Called Chaos (2004) * Flavors of Entanglement (2008)* You Can't Do That on Television, herself (1986) * Just One of the Girls, herself (1993) * Music Works, herself (1994) * Malhação, herself (1996) * Dogma Dogma (film) , God (1999) * The Vagina Monologues (1999) * *** and the City, Dawn (episode "Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl" Boy, Girl, Boy, Girl... , 1999) * Class Dismissed, herself (2001) * We're with the Band, herself (2002) ("Hands Clean", "Baba", "You Oughta Know", "Thank U") * Curb Your Enthusiasm, herself (episode "The Terrorist Attack", 2002) * Celebridade, herself (2003) * The Exonerated, Sunny Jacobs (2003) * De-Lovely, unnamed singer (2004) ("Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love") * American Dreams, Singer in the Lair (episode "What Dreams May Come", 2004) * Degrassi: The Next Generation, principal (episode "Goin' down the Road: Part 1", 2005) * *** *** (film) , herself (2005) * Just Friends, herself (deleted scene), (2005) * Lovespring International, Lucinda (2006) * Nip/Tuck, Poppy (2006) * The Break Up" * Head-case, herself (2007) * 14 Women, herself (2007) * Radio Free Albemuth Radio Free Albemuth (film) , Sylvia (TBA) *Rosie Live (2008) - sang "Not as We" *Weeds (TV Series), Dr. Audra Kitson (2009) *My Mother's Red Hat (Internet Indie-Film Spoof), herself (2009) *Sit Down, Shut Up, herself (2009) *An Oak Tree, herself (2010)* Jagged Little Pill, Live (1997) * Alanis Morissette: Live in the Navajo Nation (2002) * Under Rug Swept DVD Audio (2002) * Feast on Scraps (2002) * VH1 Storytellers: Alanis Morissette (2005) * Global Warming: The Signs and The Science (2005) — hosted * The Collection CD/DVD Edition (2005) * The Great Warming (2006) — hosted* 1991: Vanilla Ice tour (opening act) * 1995: Jagged Little Pill/Intellectual Intercourse Tour * 1996: Can't Not Tour * 1998: Club Tour Club Tour (Alanis Morissette tour) * 1999: Junkie Tour * 1999: Junkie Tour Australian Leg (with Garbage Garbage (band) ) * 1999: 5 ½ Weeks Tour (with Tori Amos) * 2000: One Tour * 2001: Under Rug Swept Tour * 2002: Toward Our Union Mended Tour * 2003: All I Really Want/Feast on Scraps Tour * 2004: So-Called Chaos/Au Naturale Tour (with Bare*** Ladies) * 2005: Diamond Wink Tour * 2008: Exile in America (with Matchbox Twenty and MUTEMATH) * 2008: Flavors of Entanglement Tour * 2009: Flavors of Entanglement South American Tour
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