Alanis Morissette

Alanis Nadine Morissette, born June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has become a defining voice of alternative rock and a cultural touchstone for multiple generations. Growing up in a devout Catholic household with a French‑Irish father and a Hungarian‑Jewish mother, she began performing on the children’s sketch series You Can’t Do That on Television and released two dance‑pop albums, Alanis (1991) and Now Is the Time (1992), that earned modest Canadian success yet hinted at a restless artistic drive. After moving to Los Angeles in the early 1990s, she partnered with producer Glen Ballard and crafted the groundbreaking album Jagged Little Pill (1995), whose raw confessionals—most famously “You Oughta Know”—propelled her to global stardom, clinching five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year and selling over 33 million copies worldwide. The record’s blend of angry honesty and melodic hooks cemented Morissette’s reputation as the “queen of alt‑rock angst,” influencing a wave of female artists from Avril Lavigne to Pink. Subsequent releases such as Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998), Under Rug Swept (2002) where she acted as sole writer‑producer, and Flavors of Entanglement (2008) displayed her willingness to experiment with electronic textures, jazz‑inflected arrangements, and deeply personal lyrical themes, often drawn from her high‑profile relationships, including a brief engagement to Ryan Reynolds. Beyond music, Morissette has pursued acting—appearing as God in Kevin Smith’s Dogma and guest‑starring on series like Weeds—and has contributed to film soundtracks, earning Golden Globe nominations for “Uninvited” and “Wunderkind.” She holds dual citizenship in Canada and the United States (since 2005), has been married to Mario Treadway since 2010, and is a mother of three. Her later projects, including the meditation album The Storm Before the Calm (2022) and the Broadway‑adapted musical Jagged Little Pill, demonstrate an artist who continually reinvents herself while remaining anchored by the confessional intensity that first captured the world’s attention.