70 Fun Facts About Alanis Morissette

In which Canadian city was Alanis Morissette born?

She was born at Riverside Hospital on June 1, 1974, twelve minutes after her twin brother Wade.

Alanis has a twin brother. What is his name?

He is a musician and was born 12 minutes before her.

What was the title of Alanis Morissette's breakthrough 1995 album?

It sold 33 million copies worldwide, second only to Shania Twain's Come On Over among albums by women.

Which producer co-wrote and produced her 1995 breakthrough album?

They wrote "Ironic" in under 15 minutes as a warm-up.

The title of her 1995 album comes from a line in which of its songs?

The album's fifth single kept it in the Billboard top 20 for over a year.

Which label, founded by Madonna, released her 1995 breakthrough album?

According to her manager, every other label they approached turned her down.

Which two Red Hot Chili Peppers played on "You Oughta Know"?

KROQ in Los Angeles broke the song, and the video went into heavy rotation on MTV.

Which Full House actor claimed in 2008 to be the ex who inspired "You Oughta Know"?

Morissette denied it was about him in the 2021 documentary Jagged.

Which single was Alanis's biggest hit and her highest-charting on the Billboard Hot 100, at No. 4?

Its lyrics were widely criticised for describing situations that are not actually ironic.

In the video for her biggest hit, Alanis drives through a winter landscape while playing whom?

French director Stéphane Sednaoui shot it; it won three MTV Video Music Awards.

Which Joni Mitchell homage did Alanis perform, instead of her biggest hit, at the 1996 MTV VMAs?

"Your House" is the hidden a cappella track at the end of Jagged Little Pill.

How many Grammys did Alanis win for her 1995 album at the 1996 ceremony?

Album of the Year made her the youngest winner of the category at the time.

Alanis became the first Canadian artist to earn which certification at home for her 1995 album?

The RIAA certified it seventeen times platinum.

Which future Foo Fighters drummer played on her 1995–96 world tour?

Radiohead joined as the opening act in mid-1996.

Which band opened for Alanis in mid-1996 on the Can't Not Tour?

The 18-month tour started in small clubs and ended in arenas.

Where did Alanis travel for six weeks after the tour, inspiring "Thank U"?

She went with her mother, two aunts and two friends and took up Iyengar yoga.

What was controversial about the "Thank U" music video?

The song was nominated for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2000 Grammys.

"Uninvited", which won two Grammys, was recorded for the soundtrack of which 1998 film?

It was never released commercially as a single but got huge US radio play.

What was the title of Alanis's 1998 follow-up to her breakthrough album?

Its wordy, personal lyrics alienated some fans and it was called a sophomore jinx.

Her 1998 album set a record for a female artist with how many first-week US sales?

The label had merely hoped to sell a million copies over the whole release.

Alanis played which role in Kevin Smith's 1999 film Dogma?

She also wrote and performed the song "Still" for the film.

Which Police song did Alanis cover on her 1999 MTV Unplugged album?

The set also debuted "No Pressure over Cappuccino", written with guitarist Nick Lashley.

In which two languages, honouring her roots, did Alanis sing on Jonathan Elias's The Prayer Cycle?

Her mother fled Hungary in 1956; her father is of French and Irish descent.

With which singer-songwriter did Alanis co-headline the 5 and a Half Weeks Tour in 1999?

It supported Amos's album To Venus and Back.

Which 2002 album was the first Alanis wrote and produced entirely on her own?

It won her the Juno for Producer of the Year for "Hands Clean" and "So Unsexy".

What did Alanis wear to host the 2004 Junos as a protest against US censorship after the Super Bowl halftime incident?

She told the crowd she was glad to be back in "the true North, strong and censor-free".

US radio refused to play "Everything" until which word in its first line was changed to "nightmare"?

Canadian radio played the unaltered version.

Her 2005 acoustic re-recording of the 1995 album was sold exclusively through which coffee chain?

HMV Canada retaliated by pulling her other albums from its shelves for the duration.

Alanis's 2005 song "Wunderkind" earned a Golden Globe nomination for which film?

It was her second nomination for Best Original Song after "Uninvited".

Alanis's April Fools' Day 2007 viral video was a mournful piano cover of which Black Eyed Peas song?

Fergie responded by sending her a cake shaped like a pair of buttocks.

Alanis's 2008 album Flavors of Entanglement was written after her breakup with which actor?

They met at Drew Barrymore's birthday party in 2002 and were engaged in 2004.

Which producer, known for work with Björk and Madonna, produced Flavors of Entanglement?

The song "Torch" on the album was written about Ryan Reynolds.

Which country legend played rhythm guitar on Alanis's "To All the Boys I've Loved Before"?

The original was a 1984 hit.

Alanis played obstetrician Dr. Audra Kitson in which Showtime series?

She also played a lesbian named Poppy in three episodes of Nip/Tuck.

On which Nickelodeon sketch show did the young Alanis appear in five 1986 episodes?

She was still at Holy Family Catholic School in Ottawa at the time.

Alanis's 1991 Canadian debut album Alanis earned her comparisons to which American teen-pop star?

She was billed as "the Debbie Gibson of Canada" and opened for Vanilla Ice.

For which rapper was the teenage Alanis a concert opening act in the early 1990s?

Her dance-pop single "Too Hot" reached the Canadian top 20.

What was the first single from Alanis's 1991 Canadian debut album?

It earned Juno nominations for Single of the Year and Best Dance Recording.

What happened to Alanis's second demo tape, sent to Geffen Records in 1989?

The tape has never been heard.

Where did the Morissette family live from 1977 to 1980 while her parents taught at an air base?

They returned to Ottawa and Alanis started dance lessons the next year.

The 2018 stage musical based on her 1995 album had a book by which Oscar-winning screenwriter?

Diane Paulus directed; it earned 15 Tony nominations, the most of its season.

How many Tony nominations did the musical based on her 1995 album receive, the season's most?

It won two Tonys and a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

Which two new songs did Alanis write for the stage musical of her 1995 album?

"Smiling" later appeared on Such Pretty Forks in the Road.

Who directed Jagged, the 2021 HBO documentary about Alanis?

It aired as part of HBO's Music Box series.

What was the title of Alanis's 2020 album, her first in eight years?

Its release was postponed from May to July because of the pandemic.

What kind of album is 2022's The Storm Before the Calm?

She made it with Dave Harrington of the electronic duo Darkside.

Alanis's 2023 song "No Return" is a cover of the theme from which TV series?

She was also featured on Halsey's "Alanis' Interlude" in 2020.

Which rock legend opened for Alanis on her 2024 Triple Moon Tour marking 25 years of her 1998 album?

Garbage and Liz Phair had opened for her on the 1999 Junkie Tour.

Alanis married rapper Mario Treadway in 2010. What is his stage name?

They have three children.

How much did Alanis's business manager Jonathan Schwartz admit stealing from her over seven years?

He was sentenced to six years in prison in 2017.

Alanis's Malibu home was partially destroyed by which 2018 wildfire?

She moved her family to Olympic Valley, California, in 2019.

Alanis's mother Georgia fled which country during a 1956 uprising?

Alanis did not learn of her family's Jewish ancestry until her late 20s.

Alanis has been a longtime practitioner of which religion?

She was raised a devout Catholic and became a US citizen in 2005.

On which Billboard chart does Alanis hold the record for the most No. 1s by a female soloist?

"You Oughta Know", "Hand in My Pocket" and "Ironic" were among the toppers.

What nickname has been given to Alanis for her 1990s persona?

She has sold more than 60 million records worldwide.

Which institution inducted Alanis in 2026?

She had entered Canada's Walk of Fame in 2005 and the Canadian Music Hall of Fame in 2015.

Whose birthday party was Alanis attending when she met her future fiancé in 2002?

They announced their engagement in June 2004 and ended it in 2007.

Alanis's "You Oughta Know" held the record for the longest run by a woman atop which chart until 2013?

Nick Egan directed its video.

"Hand in My Pocket" was Alanis's first No. 1 single in which country?

Mark Kohr directed its black-and-white video of her driving through a festival.

At which Hollywood studio was her 1995 breakthrough album recorded?

Most vocals were the original one- or two-take demos from Ballard's home studio.

What working rule did Alanis and her producer follow while making the 1995 album?

They worked in twelve- or sixteen-hour shifts with minimal overdubs.

How many Juno Awards has Alanis Morissette won?

She also has seven Grammys and a Brit Award.

Alanis reprised her role as God in a post-credits scene of which Kevin Smith film?

The scene literally closed the book on the View Askewniverse; she had also given the song 'Still' to the Dogma soundtrack.

In the 2003 Off-Broadway play The Exonerated, Alanis played Sunny Jacobs, who was what?

She reprised the role in London in 2006, and also appeared in The Vagina Monologues.

In the 2004 Cole Porter biopic De-Lovely, Alanis performed which song?

She had a brief role as an anonymous stage performer in the film.

Alanis played Poppy, a lesbian character, in three episodes of which FX drama?

The same year, 2006, she guest-starred as a homeless woman named Lucinda in Lifetime's Lovespring International.

Which comedian played the minister at a fictional wedding for Alanis's character on NBC's Up All Night?

Alanis played Amanda, a former bandmate of Rudolph's Ava, and the pair performed their explicit hip-hop hit 'Back It Up (Beep Beep)'.

In 2009 Alanis ran a marathon to raise awareness for which cause?

She had struggled with depression and eating disorders through her teens and 20s, and later spoke publicly about postpartum depression.

To which California community did Alanis move her family in 2019, saying she was 'finally done' with Los Angeles?

She had bought a Brentwood home in 1996 and lost part of her Malibu house to the Woolsey Fire.

In which year was Alanis named to the Canadian Music Hall of Fame?

That year also brought a four-disc 20th-anniversary edition of Jagged Little Pill with ten unreleased demos.