Alanis Morissette -- Empowered by Openness
June 10, 2005 — -- Her songs captured her frustration, her resentments and her seething, vengeful rage toward the man who did her wrong. Some women get mad. Some women get even. Alanis Morissette seemed to want to do both.
Rolling Stone once dubbed Morissette an "angry white female" on its cover, but she now says a broader moniker would be more apt. "I think it would be 'Everything White Female' -- just, you know, really all these emotions, anger, sadness, confusion, joy, humor, all of it," she told "20/20's" Elizabeth Vargas.
Morissette's 1995 album "Jagged Little Pill" was a potent emotional stew with remarkable commercial appeal. The record sold more than 30 million copies. Its collection of intensely personal autobiographical songs transformed this slight, 5-foot, 4-inch-tall Canadian-born singer into the biggest thing in the music business.
A decade later, Morissette is releasing an acoustic version of "Jagged Little Pill." It is a new interpretation of songs that once redefined how women talked about their relationships with men. She was no Tammy Wynette -- standing by her man. Or even Aretha Franklin -- demanding some well-deserved respect. Alanis was an original -- in her lyrics she's mad as hell and refusing to take it anymore.
At 19, Morissette had created the best-selling record by a solo female artist -- ever. "Jagged Little Pill" won Grammys for Morrisette for best rock song, best female rock vocal performance and album of the year.
Morissette said she had always imagined herself on stage. "I always envisioned myself touring the planet, playing songs, playing live. I had always seen images of that in my head, but the rest was, you know, an interesting fun surprise," she said.
But going from anonymity to global stardom had its challenges. "It was overwhelming because I'd always been an observer of life. And right around 1995, I went from being the observer to being the observed. And that was really jarring for me," she told "20/20's" Elizabeth Vargas.
