Alanis loved dancing and acting when she was young (probably still does). She started learning ballet and jazz dancing at the age of 7. She has also done a lot of stage and theatre work, including a part on the highly popular kids television show "You Can't Do That on Television" when she was 11. Alanis also appeared in the TV movie "Just One of the Girls" in 1993, which starred Corey Haim.

Alanis also seem to be quite fond of teaching, as she once suggested that she might have been an English or Drama teacher if she hadn't been involved in show business.

She has been writing songs for fun since 9. Alanis admired the music and character of Olivia Newton John (from "Grease") tremendously when she was young, which is the main reason why she was so interested in music. She also loved the writing style of George Micheal. With the help of a friend of the family who was in the music business, Alanis released her first ever single at the young age of eleven. The song was called "Please Stay With Me", and it was independently produced with money coming out of her own pocket. The song was not a hit by any means, but it got some airplay on Canadian radio stations.

At age 13, Alanis met Leslie Howe (who did the group One-to-One), and they started writing together. Eventually, she was signed to MCA, and she recorded her first album, "ALANIS", in 1990. Released in 1991, the music on this album is mostly pop and dance, along the lines of Paula Abdul. This recording proved to be a big hit in her homeland, as "ALANIS" went platinum in Canada. She was labelled as a teenager pop/dance sensation. Her success won her a JUNO Award (Canada's version of the America's Grammys) as the most promising new female vocalist.

Her sophomore album "NOW IS THE TIME" was released by MCA in late 1992. "NOW IS THE TIME" is also a pop album, but this recording as a whole seems to be more mature than her first album. It has more ballards and sounds less like a dance album. Not as successful as "ALANIS", "NOW IS THE TIME" nevertheless went platinum in Canada.

Despite being relatively well-known in Canada, Alanis was a virtual stranger in the United States. Her biggest gigs so far were singing the national anthem at the first Ottawa Senator's game and singing her song "Too Hot" on the 1992 NHL Awards. This may all change after Alanis was signed to Madonna's Maverick Label. After trying to co-write with hundreds of people and being disappointed each time, Alanis finally met Glen Ballard through MCA publishing, and immediately two enjoyed each other's writing style.

Her third release "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" showed a very different Alanis than in the previous two albums. Instead of using midi machines, sequencers and other electronic gagnets, Alanis Morissette, as she is called now, has human band players. Also, the lyrics in this album are much more intelligent, meaningful, and bitter. Alanis believed that the catalyst for her change in attitude and character was her move from Canada to Los Angeles, where she learned to live independently in a big city. Alanis said she is now mature enough to tap into an honesty that she wasn't ready to deal with when she was younger. Most of the songs on "JAGGED LITTLE PILL" are in one way or another autobiographical. And people are loving her work, as her album is now a big hit across the United States.

To those who think the generation that came of age in the 1980s lacks focus, here's one bit of advice...take a pill--a Jagged Little Pill! Although she only recently passed her 20th birthday, Alanis Morissette's Maverick debut proves she possesses a wealth of insight and an off-kilter sense of humor that's at once untainted and mature.

"People have always said I was an old soul," says Alanis. "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." It all boils down to this one fact:

"I want to walk though life instead of being dragged through it."

That's a pretty accurate description of the jarringly honest, frequently provocative songs on Jagged Little Pill, Alanis' Maverick debut. The native of Ottawa, Canada uses her own experiences--from a Catholic school upbringing, to her many travels through Europe as a youth, to her years as a teenager living alone in Toronto--as a springboard for some striking, universal statements. In the incisive "All I Really Want" (on which her self-aware observations are set against a swirling psychedelic canvas), Alanis pleads for fulfillment of needs both physical and psychic, while the stirring "Not The Doctor" offers a steely-eyed declaration of emotional independence.

"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," she allows. "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."