Alanis Morissette gave the world some of the most famous songs from the 1990s alternative rock scene. During the height of her fame, Morissette upset a fellow alternative rock singer. This singer said she was jealous of Morissette’s music, but not for the reason one might think.
This 1990s rock singer falsely claimed Alanis Morissette didn’t write her own songs
Morissette began her career as a teen pop star. Her first two albums, Alanis and Now Is the Time, were very different from the music that made her famous in the United States. Her third album, Jagged Little Pill, was a shift into the alternative rock genre.
According to Variety, the band Letters to Cleo released its album Wholesale Meats and Fish around the same time. Lead singer Kay Hanley mocked Morissette repeatedly. She criticized Morissette’s hair and lyrics, and claimed she didn’t write any of her songs.
Kay Hanley revealed why Alanis Morissette really made her so upset
Hanley revealed why she said all this. “And now I’ll tell you how I felt: jealous,” she wrote. “I wasn’t jealous for the reasons you might think. I was happy to cede whatever right I thought I had to be the next big thing. As a matter of pure careerism, I was playing t-ball and she was a Silver Slugger. How could I compete? Did I even want to compete? I didn’t.”
Hanley said her jealousy wasn’t about her career. “My jealousy was about something far more threatening to me. Alanis was fearless,” Hanley said. “She was brutally honest. She was telling stories from her life and daring us not to look away. Her singing was guttural, primal, unconventional, terrifying, real. Her descriptions of personal outrage were utterly fresh, her lyricized revenge, fist-pumping catharsis. Her bold use of language, even when she was shamed for her imprecision on ‘Ironic,’ felt expansive and luxurious against the backdrop of increasingly lazy words-schmerds and jaded surrealisms.”
The way the world reacted to ‘Jagged Little Pill’ and its songs
Regardless of what Hanley thought of Jagged Little Pill, the album became a massive hit. It topped the Billboard 200, staying on the chart for 127 weeks. Two of the singles from the album, “You Oughta Know” and “Ironic,” were very popular, peaking at No. 6 and No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.
The Official Charts Company reports Jagged Little Pill made an impact in the United Kingdom as well. Jagged Little Pill reached No. 1 in the U.K. and lasted on the chart for 222 weeks. “You Oughta Know” and “Ironic” were somewhat less ubiquitous in the U.K., peaking at No. 22 and No. 11, respectively. More recently, many of the songs from Jagged Little Pill appeared in the musical of the same name. While Jagged Little Pill initially made Hanley jealous, the album seemed to connect with many people.
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