If you are not prepared for it, fame can be downright deadly. Alanis Morissette knows that better than anyone. Thirty years ago, she released her third studio album, \u201cJagged Little Pill,\u201d which won five Grammys, including album of the year and best rock album, and went on to sell 33 million copies. <\/p>\n
So, Morissette has a complicated relationship with fame. Now, she will be examining that and many other dimensions of her incredible three-decade career in a new Vegas residency at Caesars Palace that begins Wednesday and runs until Nov. 2.<\/p>\n
As Morissette explained in a wide-ranging talk with The Times, the Vegas show will be much more than a concert. The show will take on a narrative feel that will showcase her humor, improv, wellness and all the other traits that have defined her over the years.<\/p>\n
I love that you paired with Carly Simon on the song \u201cComing Around Again\u201d because I see such a kinship based on you two over generations. There is so much in common between \u201cYou\u2019re So Vain\u201d and \u201cYou Oughta K<\/b>n<\/b>ow.\u201d Not the least of which is I am sure you are both beyond over being asked, \u201cWho is the song really about?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
Right, because what people don\u2019t understand, and I can\u2019t speak for Carly, but there\u2019s a difference between revenge and revenge fantasy. I\u2019m all about the revenge fantasy and punching pillows and gyrating and sweating and losing your s\u2014 in art. And Lord knows I\u2019m unmeasured in other areas day-to-day, too, so it\u2019s not like I\u2019m some paragon of containment, but yeah, just the revenge thing, there\u2019s a lot of schoolyard stuff going on. That\u2019s all I\u2019ll say for the moment.<\/p>\n
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<\/div><\/div><\/div>\nObviously, this is 30 years of \u201cJagged Little Pill.\u201d I remember seeing Bruce Springsteen in <\/b>\u2019<\/b>88, when he did \u201cBorn to Run\u201d acoustic. Every night when he introduced it, he would say<\/b>,<\/b> \u201c<\/b>I was thinking about how much that song was me, and how much I don\u2019t want it to be me.<\/b>\u201d<\/b> And I thought that was so interesting because<\/b>,<\/b> of course, there are songs you want to be you. So, what songs did you want to be you?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yeah, there are so many songs that I would write about potential. So, I\u2019d be in a relationship, and I would be writing about what I wanted to the point where whomever I may have been dating at the time, if I shared the song with them, sometimes they would say, \u201cWho\u2019s this about? This can\u2019t possibly be about me.\u201d I\u2019m like, \u201cWell, you know what? You\u2019re onto something there. This is about what I wish we could be.\u201d I think about also a song, because I\u2019m working on the Vegas show, so we\u2019re integrating so much. And I think the song \u201cNot the Doctor\u201d is probably one of the ones that I realized the naivety of having written, like, your issues just get away from me. Having been married now for 15 years, I realized that your partner\u2019s challenges, you take each other on \u2014 all of it. So, there\u2019s a little bit of knowledge now that makes \u201cNot the Doctor\u201d funny to sing. <\/p>\n
And then \u201cIncomplete\u201d is a song that is a manifestation, as you just described, that I would be good. It\u2019s like a prayer manifestation. There\u2019s a song, \u201cKnees of My Bees,\u201d that I wrote about what I wished. In praise of the vulnerable man, it was what I wished. So yes, there\u2019s some composites being made where I take seven people whom I had a similar pattern repeat, and I just lop them all into one song as one person and unify the communication; there\u2019s no holds barred. <\/p>\n
Has there been talk about extending the show? It does sound like you are putting a crazy amount of work into a show that right now lasts little more than a week<\/b>.<\/b><\/p>\n
For a long time \u2014 and a lot of journalists have said, \u201cYeah, right,\u201d when I say this \u2014 but my energy doesn\u2019t go into outcome. Whether the show is seen three times or 300,000 times, that\u2019s not up to me in this moment. I\u2019m creating stories and sharing parts of myself that I have hidden for the \u201990s imperative of staying in your lane or it\u2019s career suicide. So, I\u2019m still unlearning that, which is the reductiveness of the \u201990s, where you have to stay one thing. Then, well, what is one supposed to do if they have multiple talents or multiple intelligences dying to be expressed? We\u2019re going to contain that so that we can keep the \u201990s credo going. So, over the years, it\u2019s just been, can I bring these other aspects of self into the whole expression of me through academia, through movement, through channeling, through live shows, through interviews right now? There are so many ways to express, and the \u201990s really did say, \u201cYou do it one or two ways; you step out of that and your career is over.\u201d Thank God that messaging is softened.<\/p>\n
How have you seen culture and values change over your career?<\/b><\/p>\n
It used to be \u201cI want to be a millionaire,\u201d and now everyone wants to be a billionaire. It used to be \u201cI want to look 21 forever,\u201d now it\u2019s \u201cI want to look 14 forever.\u201d And then it used to be \u201cI want to have fame as a means to an end for activism.\u201d Now it\u2019s just \u201cI want fame as an end,\u201d so it\u2019s an interesting value system snapshot right now. And so many of us are flying in the face of it, so I\u2019m not really worried about that. But the value system has gotten smaller almost, as though fame in and of itself is going to correct our attachment wounds. It doesn\u2019t work, and I\u2019m constantly raising my hand going, I thought fame would result in this profound sense of community that I\u2019d be amongst my people and we\u2019d be petting each other\u2019s heads by the fire. That was not the case.<\/p>\n
I think for anyone who comes out the other side of fame, there has to be a tremendous sense of gratitude that you survive it. <\/b><\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big piece of this Vegas show without me nailing it on the head or belaboring the point. It\u2019s like, \u201cHow are some of us still here?\u201d<\/p>\n
How do you express that in the show? And it is interesting given your passion for wellness and mental health, it is in Vegas. Which has never been known for either.<\/b><\/p>\n
Yeah, Vegas has been known for addiction and gambling, acting out, sexual acting out. What is Vegas known for? \u201cWhat happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.\u201d It\u2019s been known for that, but I believe that there\u2019s a whole seismic shift going on. I have never underestimated people who come to my shows. Even in workshops, people are like, \u201cAlanis, it\u2019s too much.\u201d And my thought is, \u201cNo, it\u2019s not.\u201d People can close their eyes, they can walk out, they can shut the radio off, they can take a break in the cafeteria. Part of why I love that it\u2019s Vegas is that there\u2019s this ceilinglessness in terms of no holds barred again, like I want to wear a boa. You want to do a backflip. Apparently, we\u2019re doing a backflip. What has happened over the years is that again, it was this one-lane push, stay in your lane. And while this was all happening, there were all these other archetypal imperatives getting at me, like what about dancing? What about comedy? What about article writing? What about keynote speaking? What about workshop leading? What about channeling? There are all these other forms of expression that I live for. So, in some ways, I was cultivating them maybe privately. That\u2019s just who I am. And I integrated it into every lyric. <\/p>\n
Sin\u00e9ad [O\u2019Connor] said this perfectly, I don\u2019t know word for word what she said, but the essence was you love the art, but you hate the artist. She said something about, \u201cI appreciate that my audience wants everyone to hear more angry emotions from me through my songs, but then I have to be angry. And no one takes that into consideration.\u201d I was like, \u201cYeah, because we\u2019re used in the best way possible.\u201d Artists are used as a screen upon which people identify themselves or people find who they are by hating and loving and trolling and attacking and it\u2019s all projection, everything\u2019s f\u2014 projection. So yeah, I just think people who are in the public eye have an experience inside of a social construct that is so violently unusual. And there\u2019s no empathy afforded to them for that, other than maybe from people like you and me.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n\u201cThere are all these other forms of expression that I live for,\u201d says Alanis Morissette. \u201cSo, in some ways, I was cultivating them maybe privately. That\u2019s just who I am. And I integrated it into every lyric.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Shervin Lainez)<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div><\/div>\n
How did you learn to deal with it? Unfortunately for Sin<\/b>\u00e9<\/b>ad, she never was able to handle the fact that people were so hateful toward<\/b> her, even though it had nothing to do with her.<\/b><\/p>\n
I know, and basically that is the lack of handbook that is egregious, because so many people who were in the public eye are now physically gone. So much of it is their temperament, and I used to do talks at the neurobiology conferences at UCLA, and I would bring up the idea of temperament needing to be taken into consideration, whether it\u2019s around suicidality or anything. Most artists are highly sensitive empaths. That is a version of neurodivergence over excitability, high-achieving, profound subtle awareness and attunement. All of these qualities that make the sweetest artists. And yet that temperament in a world that is doing what you just described Sin\u00e9ad receiving, which is projecting hate, hate, hate, hate, hate. There\u2019s no handbook on how to go, \u201cHey, we\u2019re going to do shadow work here. We\u2019re going to talk about rejection. We\u2019re going to talk about if anyone\u2019s saying anything that brings something up for you, bring it into therapy. Look at that part. Look at what they\u2019re saying.\u201d Also, always from me, look at the opposite. If you\u2019re being invited to look at the part of you that is an a\u2014. Always also look at the part of you that is deeply, deeply kind. For me, that\u2019s the wholeness journey.<\/p>\n
Being older, what have you learned about how to deal with all this?<\/b><\/p>\n
I really do believe, Steve, that I could write a f\u2014 handbook now. I feel like if you and I got together, I could write the handbook, and we just hand it out to all the new celebs.<\/p>\n
Do you now feel a responsibility to be able to pass your wisdom on to the new generation like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo?<\/b><\/p>\n
I feel great passion about it. I happen to be someone who is hilariously conscientious and intensely empathic. I\u2019m always blown away by them, and then I see people like Olivia and I just think, \u201cOh, everything\u2019s going to be okay. We\u2019re all going to be okay if Olivia exists; we\u2019re good.\u201d [laughs]<\/p>\n
What happened to your book?<\/b><\/p>\n
What\u2019s interesting is I did two years worth of narrative storytelling that we recorded. Initially it was for a memoir, or some version of what was being asked for was a memoir. That\u2019s kind of a hard \u201cno\u201d for me because we\u2019re using all the pieces that feel relevant to this particular story. The reason I didn\u2019t want to do the memoir is \u2019cause there\u2019s no way to articulate a life. There\u2019s way to articulate snapshots. There\u2019s a way to articulate chapters, maybe. But there\u2019s no way to articulate, like, this is my sentimental life story. It\u2019s not possible. So that\u2019s why songs are so great. It\u2019s like four minutes of a moment. Let\u2019s just keep writing these moments and capturing these moments and that\u2019s what Vegas is for me: a moment.<\/p>\n
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<\/div><\/div><\/div>\nOne of the things I\u2019ve talked about with artists that they love so much about Vegas residency is you get to mix it up night to night. But it sounds like you\u2019re going to have a show, so are you going to be incorporating different stuff or is it going to be more of a narrative story?<\/b><\/p>\n
Both. For me as an actor, I\u2019ve always enjoyed improv. I love it when there\u2019s a general sense of structure for something, but then go off within it. This is the way I\u2019ve always been, both sides of the brain. I want some structure and predictability and some version of a set list, which we already have. But then within some of the interstitial stuff and the scenes and the comedy and the physicality and the movement, yeah, it\u2019s a movable feast. We\u2019ll see what happens. I am completely out of my wheelhouse publicly, not privately, because I was in improv teams since I was 14. And I think comedy is one of the best forms of activism art, I really do, maybe even above music. So, we\u2019re integrating all these forms of art. And I\u2019m not thinking about any outcome. It\u2019s really amazing to write a record, write a song, write an email, frankly, with no agenda. The agenda is just \u201clet\u2019s express ourselves.\u201d And that\u2019s plenty.<\/p>\n
Do you feel like you\u2019re having more fun now at this point in your career than any other point? <\/b><\/p>\n
I have the most fun with collaborating. So, I can\u2019t say this is any more fun, but I can say that there\u2019s more people. So, in the past, it\u2019s been me alone writing or me and my bestie writing or me and Glen [Ballard] writing. So, in some ways it was insulated, isolated and with the musical and with Vegas, let\u2019s multiply those collaborators by at least five. What I\u2019ve said a few times, and I still stand by it, is that for me, the happiest place is in this communal \u201ccan\u2019t swing a dirty sock without hitting a master\u201d kind of environment, and it is truly six plus six is a thousand for us.<\/p>\n
Do you feel like<\/b>,<\/b> as you\u2019re getting older<\/b>,<\/b> people are embracing you more?<\/b><\/p>\n
Yeah, I make more sense. There was a period of time where I didn\u2019t make any sense and perhaps there wasn\u2019t that much resonance. And then 25, 30 years later, I feel like I\u2019m starting to make sense to the world in a way that I didn\u2019t expect to happen. I just always thought, \u201cOh, I\u2019ll be on that smallest part of the bell-shaped curve forever and I\u2019ll probably be kind of lonely there. And that\u2019s just what it is in this lifetime.\u201d But here I am 30 years later and I\u2019m starting to get a sense that what I\u2019ve been talking about this whole time is resonant for people. And I can\u2019t tell you how healing that is for me.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
\u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.latimes.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you are not prepared for it, fame can be downright deadly. Alanis Morissette knows that better than anyone. Thirty years ago, she released her third studio album, \u201cJagged Little Pill,\u201d which won five Grammys, including album of the year and best rock album, and went on to sell 33 million copies. So, Morissette has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2092620,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2092619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Why-Alanis-Morissette-believes-she-could-write-the-celebrity-survival.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2092619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2092619"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2092619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2092621,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2092619\/revisions\/2092621"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2092620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2092619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2092619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2092619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}