When Alanis was 11 years old, she was on a Canadian sketch-comedy TV show called “You Can’t Do That on Television.” (You can watch some clips of the show on YouTube!)

While she was still a teenager, Alanis moved into music. She had big curly hair and called herself just ‘Alanis.’ She recorded two albums that were released only in Canada and won a Juno Award [Canadian music award] for ‘Most Promising Female Artist.’

Here is 17-year-old Alanis singing her most popular dance-pop song “Too Hot”:

 

(* The logo in the corner of the video is from MuchMusic, Canada’s music video TV station.)

 
Then she disappeared for a couple of years and no one knew what happened to her! All of sudden, she burst back onto the scene in 1995 with her blockbuster album Jagged Little Pill. This was a very different Alanis! Her album Jagged Little Pill was considered her ‘debut’ album because her previous two albums were only released in Canada, while Jagged Little Pill was released worldwide. Jagged Little Pill has sold well over 30 million copies and to this day it remains the best-selling debut album by a female artist worldwide in music history.

 

Vocabulary:
a sketch-comedy TV show
…she was on a Canadian sketch-comedy TV show
= think ‘Saturday Night Live;’ a sketch-comedy show is one with several comedy skits, each only 1-3 minutes long, with several comedic actors

to release an album
She recorded two albums that were released in Canada.
= when an artist releases an album, it is made available to the public to buy.

a logo
The logo in the corner is from MuchMusic, Canada’s music TV station.
= a symbol used to represent a company or other organization

to burst onto the scene
…she burst back onto the scene in 1995…
= she suddenly appeared in the public spotlight; before to this, no one outside of Canada knew who she was

debut
Her album Jagged Little Pill was considered her ‘debut’ album…
= the first of something done in public: an appearance, an album, a new product etc.

 

Sources
Alanis Morissette’s Official website
Alanis Morissette on imdb
‘You Can’t Do That on Television’ on imdb