Alanis Morissette says fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
The “Ironic” singer opens up about her experience with becoming a world-famous singer in the ’90s on an upcoming Audible Original, “Alanis Morissette: Words + Music,” which debuts October 22.
“I was sold the same bill of rights about fame that I imagine everyone is, that it will make all your pain go away, takes your trauma away, everyone loves you and everything is made to be healed but it was actually quite an isolating experience,” the Grammy winner says.
But the mom of three says that sudden fame was jarring as she went from being a people-watcher to being watched.
“There were sort of a lot of preconceived notions projected onto me,” she continues. “A lot of light projected onto me certainly and a lot of dark. It felt like I was a screen on which things could be projected and that takes a lot to hold. I was either holding or hiding.”
Another side effect of singing songs about ex-boyfriends, like the fiery “You Oughta Know,” meant hordes of women wrongly believed Morissette despised men.
She says girls would approach her in grocery stores exclaiming, “‘Hey girl, I hate men too!’”
“I was like, ‘Wait, wait, I never said … Oh forget it.”
“Jagged Little Pill,” the Broadway musical based on her 1995 breakthrough album, just earned 15 Tony Award nominations.