Alanis has two older brothers. Chad is about two years older than she is, and her twin brother, Wade, is twelve minutes older than she is.
The Greek name Alanis (which means "empty parking space" or "a vacant plot of land") is derived from her father. He wanted a female version of "Alan," but did not like Alanna. So, when he saw Alanis in a newspaper, he loved it, and it stuck.
Alanis' talent was evident at quite an early age. She (along with her twin brother Wade) modeled clothing for a store called Dalmy, learned piano at six years old, took ballet and jazz at seven years old, and began writing songs at nine years old. Alanis even starred in Nickelodeon's You Can't Do That on Television at age eleven.
Alanis admired Olivia Newton John's character on Grease and George Michael. With the help of a family friend, Alanis released her first single at just eleven years old. Although the song, "Fate Stay with Me," was not a hit, it did receive some airplay on Canadian radio stations.
At thirteen, she began writing songs with Leslie Howe and signed with MCA Records when she was sixteen. She began working on her debut album, Alanis, which was released in 1991. The album went platinum in Canada, and Alanis even won a Juno Award (Canada's equivalent to the Grammy).
Alanis had her own apartment at 14 years old and practically lived off of macaroni and cheese. Alanis went to high school at Glebe High School in Ottawa, Canada, and was a straight A student. "I didn't really have that much fun in high school… that whole teenage era for me, I would not repeat it if I was paid a million dollars. I'm glad I went through it and it contributed to what I am as a person and for that I am grateful. But I would never want to go back to that time. And I hope one day I will be able to look back on it with some positive feelings, but right now, I can't. I don't have very many positive feelings about school in general."
Alanis released her sophomore album Now is the Time in 1992. Like Alanis, Now is the Time went platinum in Canada.
Alanis was still virtually unknown to the US. However, this soon changed with her third album release, Jagged Little Pill (JLP) in 1995. This album was very different from the two pop/dance style albums previously released. Her lyrics were more mature, meaningful, and bitter. On top of that, she also used a real band rather than midi machines and various other electronic sound producing machines.
Alanis found new success with JLP. She even won four Grammy Awards in 1996: Best Rock Album, Best Rock Song, Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and Album of the Year.
With the release of Alanis' Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (SFIJ) in November of 1998, she is still going strong. Before the release of SFIJ, Alanis did a track, "Uninvited," on what can be debated as the best soundtrack of all time (City of Angels).
March 8th has been declared "Alanis Day" for Ottawa, Canada. She was recently given the key to Ottawa, which is her hometown.
"People have always said I was an old soul. They said I was always a little more intense and introspective than everyone was used to seeing girls be, so they didn't know where to categorize me."
"I want to walk though life instead of being dragged through it."
"I was very much a perfectionist, over-achieving mindset. And anyone will tell you if you have that, you are going to be letting yourself down all the time."
"I didn't really have that much fun in high school… that whole teenage era for me, I would not repeat it if I was paid a million dollars. I'm glad I went through it and it contributed to what I am as a person and for that I am grateful. But I would never want to go back to that time. And I hope one day I will be able to look back on it with some positive feelings, but right now, I can't. I don't have very many positive feelings about school in general."
"...I'm not scared people might hear these records. I never did Playboy centerfolds. There's nothing I regret. Maybe people will just understand my lyrics a little more if they hear those records. It validates this record [Jagged Little Pill]."
"Most of the songs are in a roundabout way actually addressed to myself… there's a certain aspect of the songs that's very confessional, very unadulterated. I wrote some of the songs and woke up the next day not even remembering I'd done them… almost like a stream of consciousness. It was a very unfettered, spiritual experience."
"I've been told a few times now that I don't look like my songs. People expect me to have purple hair and a pierced nose and boobs. Then they meet me, and I'm just... me. I hate to let anyone down, but I'm not the cleavage sort of aesthetic babe. I've been down that road before, and that's not what I'm about."
