Alanis Morissette says fame can be an “isolating experience”
The ‘Ironic’ hitmaker has been in the public eye since the early 1990s, and has said she was sold a dream that being famous would “make all [her] pain go away”, but has actually found that being in the spotlight has made her more vulnerable than ever
18 October 2020
She said: “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.”
And Alanis admitted her sudden rise to fame was jarring, as she said people “projected” their “preconceived notions” onto her, and then criticised her for not living up to those expectations.
She added in an upcoming Audible Original titled ‘Alanis Morissette: Words + Music’: “There were sort of a lot of preconceived notions projected onto me. 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.”
Meanwhile, Alanis - who has Ever Imre, nine, Onyx Solace, four, and Winter Mercy, 13 months, with her spouse Souleye - previously said she was inspired to sing by Kate Bush, after hearing the fellow musician’s 1978 debut single 'Wuthering Heights’.
The ‘You Oughta Know’ singer said: "Kate Bush was so gorgeous to me.
"Her voice was so beautiful to the point where I really believed that if I could sing along with her and hit the same notes as her, that I had a tiny chance to be able to be a legit singer at some point."
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