Alanis Morissette hosted a special edition of Alanis Radio, her Apple Music show, in honor of International Women’s Day on Monday. Calling back to her own artistic breakthrough in the Nineties, the Jagged Little Pill singer-songwriter paid tribute to other female artists who had largely contributed to that decade.
“When I think of International Women’s Day, I think about all these millions and trillions of women around the world making their mark in so many different ways,” Morissette said. “Just showing up in quiet and sometimes not so quiet ways as mothers and friends and teachers and contributors in so many different areas, specifically today, in the area of music. And I just remember in the Nineties, when we were releasing ‘You Oughta Know,’ on Jagged Little Pill, the initial reception was one that was filled with resistance based on my gender.”
She explained: “A lot of radio stations saying, ‘Hey, we can’t play “You Ought To Know” because we were already playing Sinead O’Connor, and that’s our quota, or we have Tori Amos over here. So we’re done on the women. We’re good, thanks.’ So everything changed over a period of a few years, and Lord knows I was surrounded by unbelievable women.”
In addition to O’Connor and Amos, Morissette highlighted the work of PJ Harvey, Shirley Manson of Garbage, Liz Phair, Fiona Apple, Lauryn Hill, India Arie, Björk, Amy Winehouse, Whitney Houston, Olivia Newton-John, Jane Silberry, and more.
The episode of Alanis Radio is part of Apple Music’s all-day programming for International Women’s Day on March 8th, featuring four original short films and back-to-back programming from female artists and DJs for 24 hours.
From Rolling Stone US
