Alanis Morissette

An international music star from the mid-'90s - and famous in her native Canada even before that - Alanis Morissette was born in Ottawa in 1974. She was only six years old when she began learning piano and seven when she began learning dance and by 1986, the precocious young performer was appearing on the kids series "You Can't Do That on Television" (CTV, 1979-1990).

However, it was her interest in music that remained her strongest focus and after recording a demo with musicians Lindsay Thomas Morgan and Rich Dodson, Morissette signed a recording contract with MCA Records, releasing her eponymous debut in 1991 in Canada only. The New Jack Swing influenced pop record proved a great showcase for Morissette's substantial vocal range, and she followed it up with the ballad-driven The Time is Now the following year, again in Canada only.

Hungry for greater creative expression and a wider audience, Morissette soon relocated to Toronto where she worked with producer Glen Ballard on a new record featuring a dramatic shift towards alternative rock. The resulting Jagged Little Pill, released to international audiences in 1995, would prove a smash hit. Morissette's literate, confessional lyrical style would propel her onwards in the years to come on albums like 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, 2002's Under Rug Swept, and 2005's So-Called Chaos.

In the meantime, Morissette would also enjoy an occasional acting role, appearing as God in Kevin Smith's "Dogma" (1999) and as obstetrician Dr. Audra Kitson on "Weeds" (Showtime, 2005-2011). She would release the album Havoc and Bright Lights in 2012 and took on another memorable acting role a few years later, appearing in the period drama "The Price of Desire" (2015).