Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette was born on June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, the daughter of Georgia Mary Ann Feuerstein, a Hungarian-born teacher, and Alan Richard Morissette, a French-Canadian high school principal. Alanis has a twin brother, Wade, and an older brother, Chad. At six, she began playing the piano. In 1984, Morissette wrote her first song, “Fate Stay with Me”, which she sent to a local folk singer, Lindsay Morgan, who recruited Morissette as her protégé. Morissette released “Fate Stay with Me” as a single via a label she founded with Morgan. A limited number of copies were pressed, and it received little airplay. In elementary school she was identified as gifted and attended St. Elizabeth’s PGL (program for gifted learners). During her high school years, she attended Immaculata High School and Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa while continuing to pursue a career in the arts. In 1986, she was a cast regular on the CTV/Nickelodeon show, You Can’t Do That on Television. In 1987, Morissette competed in the inaugural year of the Rising Star Talent Competition, an amateur contest held in Toronto at the Canadian National Exhibition.
At a New York City audition, Morissette landed a spot on Star Search, a U.S. talent competition on which she used the stage name of Alanis Nadine, her first and middle names. Morissette flew to Los Angeles to appear on the show, but lost after one round. In 1988, Morissette signed a publishing deal with MCA Publishing, which helped to fund her record deal with one of its independent subsidiary labels.
During 1993, Morissette dated Dave Coulier of television’s Full House fame. Apparently the relationship became strained because of the couple’s work schedules. Dave Coulier became disillusioned with Morrissette’s brief affair with Shawn Pierce, the drummer from Madison, WI band ZEBRAS.
Between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, Morissette suffered from anorexia and bulimia nervosa, which were catalysed by “hardcore” professional pressure and managerial demands from her work towards making her first album. She recalled returning to the studio to re-record some vocals, only to be told that the person who summoned her there wanted to discuss her weight, and that she couldn’t be successful if she was fat. She lived on a diet of carrots, black coffee and Melba toast, and her weight fluctuated by fifteen to twenty pounds. She subsequently began therapy, which she called “a long process to un-program . I try to remember, whatever my body is, it’s perfect the way it is”.By mid 2004, Morissette had become an ordained minister with the Universal Life Church, a religious organization that offers anyone semi-immediate ordination as a minister free of charge .
In 2002 she began dating actor Ryan Reynolds . In June 2004, Morissette announced her engagement . In June 2006, People magazine reported that Morissette and Reynolds had split, but neither party confirmed the report . The following month, a source said that they were together . Contact Music reported that their split was a “rumour” and they were pictured holding hands in Los Angeles. In February 2007, representatives for Morissette and Reynolds announced that they had mutually decided to end their engagement .
In her May 2004 interview to the British newspaper The Mirror she discussed her past relationships, having dated a twenty-nine year-old man at age fourteen and, briefly, her experiences with drugs. In the article, she was quoted as saying: “My addictions were work and food. I smoked pot once in a while, but I’m too much of a control freak to be a drug person”
