N M Rothschild & Sons

Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Financial services
Founded	London, England, UK (1811)
Founder(s)	Nathan Mayer Rothschild
Headquarters	London, England, UK
Key people	Baron David de Rothschild, Chairman
Products	Investment banking Corporate banking Private equity Asset management Private banking
Operating income	£468.3 million (31 March 2010)[1]
Net income	£136.2 million (31 March 2010)[1]
Total assets	£3,231.2 million (31 March 2010)[1]
Employees	1,194 (31 March 2010)[1]
Parent	Paris Orléans
Website	www.rothschild.com

N M Rothschild & Sons (more commonly known simply as Rothschild) is a private investment banking company, belonging to the Rothschild family. It was founded in the City of London in 1811 and is now a global firm with 50 offices around the world.

History[link]

In the late 18th century and early 19th century, Mayer Amschel Rothschild rose to become one of Europe's most powerful bankers in the principality of Hesse-Kassel (Hesse-Cassel) in the Holy Roman Empire. In pursuit of expansion, he appointed his sons to start banking operations in the various capitals of Europe, including sending his third son, Nathan Mayer Rothschild, to England. Nathan Mayer Rothschild first settled in Manchester, where he established a business in finance and textile trading. He later moved to London, where he founded N M Rothschild & Sons in 1811, through which he made a fortune with his involvement in the government bonds market.

According to historian Niall Ferguson, "For most of the nineteenth century, N M Rothschild was part of the biggest bank in the world which dominated the international bond market. For a contemporary equivalent, one has to imagine a merger between Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, J P Morgan and probably Goldman Sachs too — as well, perhaps, as the International Monetary Fund, given the nineteen-century Rothschild's role in stabilising the finances of numerous governments."

Early 19th century[link]

During the early part of the 19th century, the Rothschild London bank took a leading part in managing and financing the subsidies that the British government transferred to its allies during the Napoleonic Wars. Through the creation of a network of agents, couriers and shippers, the bank was able to provide funds to the armies of the Duke of Wellington in Portugal and Spain. In 1818 the Rothschild bank arranged a £5 million loan to the Prussian government and the issuing of bonds for government loans. The providing of other innovative and complex financing for government projects formed a mainstay of the bank's business for the better part of the century. N M Rothschild & Sons' financial strength in the City of London became such that by 1825, the bank was able to supply enough coin to the Bank of England to enable it to avert a liquidity crisis. Like most firms with global operations in the 19th century, Rothschild had links to slavery, even though the firm was instrumental in abolishing it by providing a £15m gilt issue necessary to pass the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833.^[2][3]

Late 19th century[link]

Nathan Mayer's eldest son, Lionel de Rothschild (1808–1879) succeeded him as head of the London branch. Under Lionel the bank financed the British government's 1875 purchase of a controlling interest in the Suez Canal. Lionel also began to invest in railways as his uncle James had been doing in France. In 1869, Lionel's son, Alfred de Rothschild (1842–1918), became a director of the Bank of England, a post he held for 20 years. Alfred was one of those who represented the British Government at the 1892 International Monetary Conference in Brussels.

The Rothschild bank funded Cecil Rhodes in the development of the British South Africa Company and Leopold de Rothschild (1845–1917) administered Rhodes's estate after his death in 1902 and helped to set up the Rhodes Scholarship scheme at Oxford University. In 1873 de Rothschild Frères in France and N M Rothschild & Sons of London joined with other investors to acquire the Spanish government's money-losing Rio Tinto copper mines. The new owners restructured the company and turned it into a profitable business. By 1905, the Rothschild interest in Rio Tinto amounted to more than 30 percent. In 1887, the French and English Rothschild banking houses loaned money to, and invested in, the De Beers diamond mines in South Africa, becoming its largest shareholders.

20th and 21st centuries[link]

The First World War marked a change of fortune and emphasis for Rothschild. After the War, the Rothschild banks began a steady transition towards advisory work and finance raising for commercial concerns, including the London Underground. In 1938, the Austrian Rothschilds’ interests were seized by the Nazis, bringing to an end more than a century at the heart of Central European banking. In France and Austria, the family was scattered for the duration of the Second World War. After the war, the British and French banks committed themselves to further developing their new operation in the United States, which was eventually to become Rothschild Inc, and increased focus on mergers and acquisitions and asset management.

In the twentieth century, Rothschild developed into a preeminent global organisation, which enhanced its ability to secure key advisory roles in some of the most important, complex and recognizable mergers and acquisitions. In the 1980s, Rothschild took a leading role in the international phenomenon of privatisation, where the company was involved from the beginning and developed a pioneering role which spread out to over thirty countries worldwide. In recent years, Rothschild advised on nearly a thousand completed mergers and acquisitions, having a cumulative value in excess of US$1 trillion. Next to this, Rothschild also advised on some of the largest and most high-profile corporate restructurings around the world. Today the price of gold is still fixed, twice a day,^[4] at 10.30 am and 3.00 pm at the premises of N M Rothschild by the world's main Bullion Houses: Deutsche Bank, HSBC, ScotiaMocatta and Societe Generale. Informally, the gold fixing provides a recognized rate that is used as a benchmark for pricing the majority of gold products and derivatives throughout the world's markets. Every day at 1030 and 1500 local time, five representatives of the banks meet in a small room at Rothschild's London headquarters on St Swithin's Lane. In the centre is the chairperson, who is traditionally appointed by the Rothschild bank, although the bank itself has largely withdrawn from trading.^[4]

Operations[link]

Overview[link]

Rothschild is consistently in the top 10 global investment banks for mergers and acquisitions (M&A) advisory. According to Thomson Financial data, Rothschild ranked as 6th biggest mergers and acquisitions adviser for completed deals worldwide in 2011.^[5] The firm is particularly strong in Europe, especially in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, and the Benelux countries, in each of which Rothschild consistently holds a top league table position. Rothschild's strength also extends to Eastern Europe, Asia, and the Americas Latin America.

The firm competes against a wide range of investment banks, from conglomerates like Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan, to other M&A specialists like Lazard, Greenhill & Co. and Houlihan Lokey in M&A valuation and restructuring advisory services.

Divisions[link]

Rothschild operates through three divisions:

• Global financial advisory
• Corporate banking
• Private banking and trust

Next to these three main divisions, Rothschild is also active in real estate, venture capital, and asset management.

Corporate structure[link]

In the twentieth century, the London banking house continued under the management of Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (1882–1942) and his brother Anthony Gustav de Rothschild (1887–1961) and then to Sir Evelyn Robert de Rothschild (b.1931). In 1970, the firm converted from a partnership to a limited liability company.^[6] In 2003, following Sir Evelyn's retirement as head of N M Rothschild & Sons of London, it merged with Paris Orleans SA under the leadership of the Swiss-based Rothschild Continuation holdings, chaired by Baron David de Rothschild.

The Rothschild group went through a major restructuring the early twenty-first century. N M Rothschild & Sons is now the operating company in the UK. It is indirectly controlled by the main Rothschild holding company, Rothschild Continuation Holdings AG, registered in Zug, Switzerland. 72.5% of Rothschild Continuation Holdings is^[7] controlled by the Dutch-registered Concordia BV. Concordia is wholly controlled by the English and French Rothschilds.^[6] Until 2008, the only non-family interest was Jardine Matheson, a hong which holds the other 20% of Rothschild Continuation Holdings. The stake was acquired in 2005 from Royal & Sun Alliance through the Jardine Strategic subsidiary, which specializes in leveraging stakes to protect family owners.^[8] Jardines acted as Rothschilds' China agent from 1838 onwards. However, on 19 November 2008, Rabobank announced it intended to acquire 7.5% of Rothschild Continuation Holdings, ostensibly to cement an alliance in food and agricultural finance.^[9] FT Alphaville claimed that the move was intended to help Rothschild gain access to a wider capital pool, and enlarge its presence in East Asian markets.^[10]

New Court headquarters[link]

Rothschild's headquarters in London have been continuously located at the same site over the past two centuries, at New Court, St. Swithin's Lane. In the 1950s, the firm outgrew its New Court headquarters and took up space in nearby Chetwynd House. Eventually, in October 1962, at the suggestion of Evelyn Robert de Rothschild, the firm demolished New Court and built a 6-story glass-and-steel building on the same site.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Rothschild outgrew its New Court headquarters for a second time, and now operates out of several buildings on St. Swithin's Lane, including 1 King William Street, which was originally the site of the first Gresham Club.

As before, the firm decided in 2005 to demolish the New Court and build a taller 15-story glass-and-steel building, again on the same site. This third incarnation of New Court was designed by Rem Koolhaas and his Office of Metropolitan Architecture (OMA) and provides 20,992 square metres of office space in a building of 75 metres height (with associated plant, servicing and car parking). The new building opens up views of St Stephen Walbrook church from its lobby, and views of the London skyline from a roof-top "sky pavilion".^[11] Construction took place over a 30-month period from March 2008 to August 2010, so the building was completed shortly after Rothschild celebrated its 200-year anniversary.

Office locations[link]

Awards[link]

Rothschild has received many awards in recognition of its M&A and restructuring advisory in various countries from Acquisitions Monthly, Financial Times Mergermarket, Financial News, and Euromoney.

Notable current and former employees[link]

(excluding many notable members of the Rothschild family)

Business[link]

• René-Pierre Azria - Director of Jarden Corporation; Managing Director of Blackstone Indosuez
• Dominic Barton - Worldwide Managing Director of McKinsey & Company
• Franco Bernabè - CEO of Telecom Italia; Director of PetroChina
• Michel de Carvalho - Vice-Chairman of Investment Banking of Citigroup; Director of Heineken International
• José María Castellano - CEO of Inditex Group
• Sir John Collins - CEO of Shell UK; Chairman of National Power
• Alfonso Cortina - Chairman and CEO of Repsol
• Douglas Daft - Chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Company; Director of The McGraw-Hill Companies
• Russell Edey - Director of Old Mutual; Chairman of AngloGold Ashanti
• Dudley Eustace - Chairman of The Nielsen Company, Vice-Chairman of Royal Philips Electronics
• Pehr G. Gyllenhammar - Chairman of Aviva; Founder of European Round Table of Industrialists
• Jay Hambro - CIO of [Petropavlovsk]; CEO of Aricom
• Sir Graham Hearne - Deputy Chairman of Gallaher Group; Chairman and CEO of Enterprise Oil
• Henry Keswick - Chairman of Jardine Matheson Holdings; Director of Mandarin Oriental
• James Lawrence - Chairman of L.E.K. Consulting; CFO of Unilever
• Lord Leach of Fairford - Director of Jardine Matheson Holdings; Chairman of Open Europe
• Sir Carl Meyer - Deputy Chairman of De Beers; Governor of the National Bank of Egypt
• Baron Moser - Chairman of British Museum; Chairman Economist Intelligence Unit
• Paul Myners - Chairman of Guardian Media Group; Chairman of Marks & Spencer
• Robert S. Pirie - Senior Managing Director of Bear Stearns & Co.
• Gerald Rosenfeld - Head of Investment Banking of Lazard
• Wilbur Ross - Famous investor and billionaire
• Trevor C. Rowe - Director of the Australian Stock Exchange; Chairman of United Group; Chairman of Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC)
• Anthony Salz - Senior Partner of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer; Acting Chairman of Board of Governors of the BBC
• Peter Smith - Chairman of Coopers & Lybrand; Chairman of Savills
• Raymond W. Smith - CEO of Bell Atlantic; Chairman of Verizon
• Baron Vallance of Tummel - Vice-Chairman of Royal Bank of Scotland; Chairman of British Telecom

Politics and public service[link]

• Baron George - Governor of the Bank of England (1993–2003)
• Thierry Breton - French Minister of Economy, Finance and Industry (2005–2007)
• Gerhard Schröder - Chancellor of Germany (1998–2005)
• Liam Byrne - Minister of State at the Home Office (2006–2010); Minister of State at Her Majesty's Treasury (2008–2010)
• John Kingman - Chief Executive of UK Financial Investments Limited
• Baron Lamont of Lerwick - Member of the British Parliament (1972–1997); Chancellor of the Exchequer (1990–93)
• Sir Edwin Leather - Member of the British Parliament (1950–1964); Governor of Bermuda (1973–1977)
• Oliver Letwin - Chairman of the Conservative Research Department; Minister of State for Policy
• René Mayer - President of France (1953)
• Baron Neuberger of Abbotsbury - Lord of Appeal in Ordinary (2007–present)
• Georges Pompidou - President of France (1969–1974)
• John Redwood - Member of the British Parliament (1987–present)
• Felix Rohatyn - United States Ambassador to France (1997–2000)
• Baron Wakeham - Leader of the House of Lords (1992–1994); Leader of the House of Commons (1987–1989)

Armed forces[link]

• General Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank - Chief of the General Staff (1994–1997); Chief of the Defence Staff (1997–2001)

References[link]

Books[link]

• Ferguson, Niall (1999). The House of Rothschild: Volume 1: Money's Prophets: 1798-1848. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-14-024084-5. 
• Ferguson, Niall (2000). The House of Rothschild: Volume 2: The World's Banker: 1849-1999. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-14-028662-4. 
• Ferguson, Niall (2000). The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000. New York: Penguin Group. ISBN 0-465-02325-8. 
• Kaplan, Herbert H. (2006). Nathan Mayer Rothschild and the Creation of a Dynasty: The Critical Years 1806-1816. Stanford: Stanford University Press. ISBN 978-0-8047-5165-0. 

External links[link]

Companies portal

• Official site
• M&A Ranking 2011, Thomson Reuters
• Official site of the Rothschild Archive
• "Rothschild lords it over dealmakers" (Sunday Times article).

v t e Investment banks Bank Divisions of universal banks Bulge bracket Bank of America Merrill Lynch · Barclays · Citi Institutional Clients Group · Credit Suisse · Deutsche Bank Corporate and Investment Bank · J.P. Morgan & Co. (J.P. Morgan Cazenove) · UBS Investment Bank Other BMO Capital Markets · BOC International · BNP Paribas Corporate and Investment Banking · Brown Shipley · CIBC World Markets · CITIC Securities · Commerzbank Corporates & Markets · Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CLSA) · Daiwa Securities Capital Markets · Harris Williams & Co. · HSBC Global Banking and Markets · ING Commercial Banking · Is Investment · KBC Bank · Korea Development Bank (Daewoo Securities) · Lloyds Bank Corporate Markets · Mitsubishi UFJ Securities · Mizuho Corporate Bank · Natixis · Nomura Securities · RBC Capital Markets · RBS Global Banking & Markets · Société Générale Corporate & Investment Bank · Standard Chartered · TD Securities · UniCredit Corporate & Investment Banking · VTB Capital · Wells Fargo Securities Independents Bulge bracket Goldman Sachs · Morgan Stanley Other Allen & Company · Blackstone Group · Brewin Dolphin · BTG Pactual · Centerview Partners · China International Capital Corporation · Close Brothers Group · Evercore Partners · FBR Capital Markets · Greenhill & Co. · Houlihan Lokey · Investec Bank · Jefferies & Company · Keefe, Bruyette & Woods · Lazard · Macquarie Group · Mediobanca · Moelis & Company · N M Rothschild & Sons · Oppenheimer & Co. · Perella Weinberg Partners · Piper Jaffray · Raymond James Financial · Renaissance Capital · ROTH Capital Partners · Sandler O'Neill and Partners · Stifel Nicolaus · Troika Dialog · William Blair & Company Category  · List

v t e Commercial and retail banks in the United Kingdom Banking in the United Kingdom Barclays Barclays Bank Barclays Wealth Co-operative Banking Group Britannia The Co-operative Bank Smile Unity Trust Bank Grupo Santander Cahoot Cater Allen Santander UK HSBC Holdings First Direct HFC Bank HSBC Bank HSBC Private Bank Lloyds Banking Group1 Bank of Scotland Birmingham Midshires Cheltenham & Gloucester Halifax Intelligent Finance Lloyds TSB Sainsbury's Bank2 National Australia Bank Clydesdale Bank Yorkshire Bank The Royal Bank of Scotland Group3 Adam and Company Child & Co. Coutts & Co. Drummonds Bank National Westminster Bank The Royal Bank of Scotland Ulster Bank Wholly state-owned National Savings and Investments UK Financial Investments Limited Bradford & Bingley4 Northern Rock (Asset Management)4 Other Airdrie Savings Bank Allied Irish Bank (GB) First Trust Bank Anglo Irish Bank Arbuthnot Latham & Co Bank of Ireland Bristol & West Butterfield Bank C. Hoare & Co Close Brothers Group Duncan Lawrie Egg GE Money Handelsbanken Harrods Bank ICICI Bank UK Islamic Bank of Britain Julian Hodge Bank Kingdom Bank Kleinwort Benson Metro Bank Northern Bank OneSavings Bank Raphaels Bank Reliance Bank N M Rothschild & Sons Standard Chartered Tesco Bank Triodos Bank Virgin Money Church House Trust Northern Rock "Big Four" banks are underlined and private banks are shown in italics 1 41% owned by H.M. Government 2 50:50 joint venture with J. Sainsbury plc 3 84% owned by H.M. Government 4 Mortgage assets only

Lasse Gjertsen
Lasse Gjertsen in 2005
Born	(1984-07-19) 19 July 1984 (age 27) Norway
Occupation	animator, musician, and videographer
Known for	"Hyperactive" and "Amateur" videos on YouTube

Lasse Gjertsen (born 19 July 1984) is a Norwegian animator, musician, and videographer known on YouTube as lassegg.^[1] He is best known for his short pieces "Hyperactive" and "Amateur", which string together short clips of video to create a unique form of video akin to stop-motion animation. His "Hyperactive" video has over 7 million views and his "Amateur" video has over 13 million views.

Biography[link]

Gjertsen was born in Larvik, Norway. He studied animation at Kent Institute of Art & Design in England, and at Volda University College in Norway.^[2] His time at Kent Institute ended with his teachers failing to appreciate his work, specifically Hyperactive.^[3]

YouTube[link]

Lasse originally submitted Hyperactive to YouTube after seeing a copy uploaded by another user with poor sound quality.^[4] Over the next six months Lasse uploaded 16 more videos, many created during his animation course. As of May 12, 2007 he has the 31st most subscribed channel, and four videos have been featured on the YouTube front page, Hyperactive, What The Fuck?, Amateur, and Sogno ad Occhi Aperti. While Hyperactive has been the most popular,^[2] Amateur was featured in an article in the online edition of the Wall Street Journal.^[3]

Another video by Gjertsen has also been featured on YouTube; "Hva faen, Speil?" in which he is looking into a mirror while some of the effects of LSD become apparent through very clever video and audio editing.^[5]

Lasse Gjertsen's video Hyperactive was nominated in the category Most Creative video in YouTube's 2006 Video Awards.^[6] The video achieved third place.^[7]

Hyperactive was copied ^[3] by Cartoon Network in an advert for the show Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends. Lasse initially considered legal action but after talking to a lawyer decided it would be too arduous.^[4]

It was also spoofed in an advertisement for the 3rd season of the FX TV show It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia. Whether this was done with or without Gjertsen's permission is unclear.

Lasse Gjertsen is also the creator of the soundtrack of the Chaplin Snakker videos on YouTube. Chaplin Snakker is one of his electronic songs, in which the freedom- and awe-inspiring speech of Charlie Chaplin from his movie The Great Dictator (1940) is elevated by the use of music.

Beyond YouTube[link]

The YouTube success has resulted in offers from international companies like Chevrolet and MTV.^[8] However, Gjertsen publicly denounces the concept of advertising, considering it below prostitution, and has refused all such offers.^[9]

In addition to his video work, Lasse has a self-produced album of electronica music.^[3][10]

In 2007 Lasse worked on a two-part music video collaboration, named Sogno ad Occhi Aperti, with the Italian Cellist Giovanni Sollima.^[11] This was presented at the 8th International Fringe Film Festival in Marzamemi, Italy.^[12] In the same year he directed the music video for the Swedish rapper Timbuktu's song "Get Fizzy".^[11]

Software[link]

Lasse has stated he uses the following software in the creation of his videos:^[1]

• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Adobe After Effects
• Debugmode WinMorph
• FL Studio

Music[link]

Lasse uses FL Studio to create original compositions in his videos. Although he claims not to have much skill with instruments, he has sampled himself using Drums, Piano, Guitar, Harmonica, and singing.

The only videos without original compositions are the two music videos, Home Sweet Home by Norwegian Rapper Sirius, and Sogno ad Occhi Aperti by Italian Cellist Giovanni Sollima.

YouTube video chronology[link]

2006[link]

2007[link]

2008[link]

2009[link]

2010[link]

See also[link]

• YouTube celebrities

References[link]

External links[link]

• Lasse Gjertsen on YouTube
• Lasse Gjertsen on Myspace
• Lasse Gjertsen Exclusive content created for E4

Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette signing autographs for fans after concert
Background information
Birth name	Alanis Nadine Morissette
Born	(1974-06-01) June 1, 1974 (age 38)
Origin	Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Genres	Alternative rock, pop rock, electronica, post-grunge
Occupations	Singer, songwriter, actress, record producer
Instruments	Piano, guitar, flute, harmonica, bass, vocals
Years active	1987–present
Labels	MCA Canada, Maverick, Warner Bros., Epiphany Music
Associated acts	Tim Thorney
Website	alanis.com

Alanis Nadine Morissette (born June 1, 1974) is a Canadian^[1] singer-songwriter, guitarist, record producer, and actress. She has won 16 Juno Awards and seven Grammy Awards, was nominated for two Golden Globe Awards and also shortlisted for an Academy Award nomination. Morissette began her career in Canada, and as a teenager recorded two dance-pop albums, Alanis and Now Is the Time, under MCA Records Canada.

Her first international album was the rock-influenced Jagged Little Pill, released in 1995. Jagged has sold more than 33 million units globally.^[2][3][4] Her following album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, was released in 1998 and was a success as well. Morissette took up producing duties for her subsequent albums, which include Under Rug Swept, So-Called Chaos and Flavors of Entanglement. Morissette has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.^[5][6][7] Morissette is also known for her powerful and emotive mezzo-soprano voice.^[8]

Morissette acquired United States citizenship in 2005.^[9]

Early life[link]

Morissette was born June 1, 1974 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada,^[10] the daughter of Georgia Mary Ann (née Feuerstein), a teacher of Hungarian descent,^[11][12] and Alan Richard Morissette, a French-Canadian high school principal.^[13] She has a twin brother, Wade Morissette, (also a musician) who was born 12 minutes after her.^[14] Morissette was raised Catholic.^[15] She attended Glebe Collegiate Institute (Ottawa, Canada) for high school.

Music career[link]

1987: First Demo[link]

Alanis recorded her first demo called "Fate Stay With Me" at Marigold Studios in Toronto, engineered by Rich Dodson of Canadian classic rock band, The Stampeders. ^[16]

1990–92: Early career[link]

In 1991 MCA Records Canada released Morissette's debut album, Alanis, in Canada only. Morissette co-wrote every track on the album with its producer, Leslie Howe. By the time it was released, she had dropped her stage name and was credited simply as Alanis. The dance-pop album went platinum,^[17] and its first single, "Too Hot", reached the top twenty on the RPM singles chart. Subsequent singles "Walk Away" and "Feel Your Love" reached the top 40. Morissette's popularity, style of music and appearance, particularly that of her hair, led her to become known as the Debbie Gibson of Canada;^[18] comparisons to Tiffany were also common. During the same period, she was a concert opening act for rapper Vanilla Ice.^[19] Morissette was nominated for three 1992 Juno Awards: Most Promising Female Vocalist of the Year (which she won), Single of the Year and Best Dance Recording (both for "Too Hot").^[20]

In 1992, she released her second album, Now Is the Time, a ballad-driven record that featured less glitzy production than Alanis and contained more thoughtful lyrics.^[18] Morissette wrote the songs with the album's producer, Leslie Howe, and Serge Côté. She said of the album, "people could go, 'Boo, hiss, hiss, this girl's like another Tiffany or whatever.' But the way I look at it ... people will like your next album if it's a suck-ass one."^[19] As with Alanis, Now Is the Time was released only in Canada and produced three top 40 singles—"An Emotion Away", the minor adult contemporary hit "No Apologies" and "(Change Is) Never a Waste of Time". It was a commercial failure, however, selling only a little more than half the copies of her first album.^[18][21] With her two-album deal with MCA Records Canada complete, Morissette was left without a major label contract.

[edit] 1993–97: Move to Los Angeles and Jagged Little Pill

In 1993 Morissette's publisher Leeds Levy at MCA Music Publishing introduced her to manager Scott Welch.^[22] Welch told HitQuarters he was impressed by her "spectacular voice", her character and her lyrics. At the time she was still living at home with her parents. Together they decided it would be best for her career to move to Toronto and start writing with other people.^[22] After graduating from high school, Morissette moved from Ottawa to Toronto.^[18] Her publisher funded part of her development and when she met producer and songwriter Glen Ballard, he believed in her talent enough to let her use his studio.^[18][22] The two wrote and recorded Morissette's first internationally released album, Jagged Little Pill, and by the spring of 1995, she had signed a deal with Maverick Records. According to manager Welch every label they had approached had passed on Morissette apart from Maverick.^[22]

	"Ironic" (1996) noicon The two-time Grammy Award-nominated song is considered one of Morissette's signature tunes.
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Maverick Records released Jagged Little Pill internationally in 1995. The album was expected only to sell enough for Morissette to make a follow-up, but the situation changed quickly when KROQ-FM, an influential Los Angeles modern rock radio station, began playing "You Oughta Know", the album's first single.^[23] The song instantly garnered attention for its scathing, explicit lyrics,^[18] and a subsequent music video went into heavy rotation on MTV and MuchMusic.

After the success of "You Oughta Know", the album's other hit singles helped send Jagged Little Pill to the top of the charts. "All I Really Want" and "Hand In My Pocket" followed, but the fourth U.S. single, "Ironic", became Morissette's biggest hit. "You Learn" and "Head over Feet", the fifth and sixth singles, respectively, kept Jagged Little Pill in the top twenty on the Billboard 200 albums chart for more than a year. According to the RIAA, Jagged Little Pill sold more than 16 million copies in the U.S.; it sold 33 million worldwide,^[24] making it the second biggest selling album by a female artist (behind Shania Twain's Come On Over).^[25][26] Morissette's popularity grew significantly in Canada, where the album was certified twelve times platinum^[17] and produced four RPM chart-toppers: "Hand In My Pocket", "Ironic", "You Learn", and "Head over Feet". The album was also a bestseller in Australia and the United Kingdom.^[27][28]

Morissette's success with Jagged Little Pill was credited with leading to the introduction of female singers such as Shakira, Tracy Bonham, Meredith Brooks, Patti Rothberg and, in the early 2000s, Pink and fellow Canadian Avril Lavigne.^[29] She was criticized for collaborating with producer and supposed image-maker Ballard, and her previous albums also proved a hindrance for her respectability.^[18][30] Morissette and the album won six Juno Awards in 1996: Album of the Year, Single of the Year ("You Oughta Know"), Female Vocalist of the Year, Songwriter of the Year and Best Rock Album.^[31] At the 1996 Grammy Awards, she won Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, Best Rock Song (both for "You Oughta Know"), Best Rock Album and Album of the Year.^[32]

Later in 1996, Morissette embarked on an 18-month world tour in support of Jagged Little Pill, beginning in small clubs and ending in large venues. Taylor Hawkins, who later joined the Foo Fighters, was the tour's drummer. "Ironic" was nominated for two 1997 Grammy Awards—Record of the Year and Best Music Video, Short Form^[33]—and won Single of the Year at the 1997 Juno Awards, where Morissette also won Songwriter of the Year and the International Achievement Award.^[34] The video Jagged Little Pill, Live, which was co-directed by Morissette and chronicled the bulk of her tour, won a 1998 Grammy Award for Best Music Video, Long Form.^[35]

Following the stressful tour, Morissette started practicing Iyengar Yoga for balancing, and after the last December 1996 show, she headed to India for six weeks, accompanied by her mother, two aunts and two female friends.^[36]

[edit] 1998–2000: Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie and Alanis Unplugged

	"Thank U" (1998) noicon The most successful single from 1998's Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie was written after a trip to India. "That I Would Be Good" (1998) noicon A live version of this ballad was released to promote 1999's Alanis Unplugged.
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Morissette was featured as a guest vocalist on Ringo Starr's cover of "Drift Away" on his 1998 album, Vertical Man, and on the songs "Don't Drink the Water" and "Spoon" on the Dave Matthews Band album Before These Crowded Streets. She recorded the song "Uninvited" for the soundtrack to the 1998 film City of Angels. Although the track was never commercially released as a single, it received widespread radio airplay in the U.S. At the 1999 Grammy Awards, it won in the categories of Best Rock Song and Best Female Rock Vocal Performance, and was nominated for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.^[37] Later in 1998, Morissette released her fourth album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie, which she wrote and produced with Glen Ballard.

Privately, the label hoped to sell a million copies of the album on initial release;^[38] instead, it debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart with first-week sales of 469,000 copies—a record, at the time, for the highest first-week sales of an album by a female artist.^[39] The wordy, personal lyrics on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie alienated many fans, and after the album sold considerably less than Jagged Little Pill, many labelled it an example of the sophomore jinx.^[18][40] However, it received positive reviews, including a four-star review from Rolling Stone.^[41] In Canada, it won the Juno Award for Best Album and was certified four times platinum.^[17][42] "Thank U", the album's only major international hit single, was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance; the music video, which featured Morissette nude, generated mild controversy.^[38][43] Morissette herself directed the videos for "Unsent" and "So Pure", which won, respectively, the MuchMusic Video Award for Best Director and the Juno Award for Video of the Year.^[42][44] The "So Pure" video features actor Dash Mihok, with whom Morissette was in a relationship at the time.^[38]

Morissette contributed vocals to "Mercy", "Hope", "Innocence", and "Faith", four tracks on Jonathan Elias's project The Prayer Cycle, which was released in 1999. The same year, she released the live acoustic album Alanis Unplugged, which was recorded during her appearance on the television show MTV Unplugged. It featured tracks from her previous two albums alongside four new songs, including "King of Pain" (a cover of The Police song) and "No Pressure over Cappuccino", which Morissette wrote with her main guitar player, Nick Lashley. The recording of the Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie track "That I Would Be Good", released as a single, became a minor hit on hot adult contemporary radio in America. Also in 1999, Morissette released a live version of her song "Are You Still Mad" on the charity album Live in the X Lounge II. For her live rendition of "So Pure" at Woodstock '99, she was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 2001 Grammy Awards.^[45] During summer 1999, Alanis toured with singer/songwriter Tori Amos on the 5 And A Half Weeks Tour in support of Amos' album To Venus And Back.

[edit] 2001–03: Under Rug Swept and Feast on Scraps

In 2001, Morissette was featured with Stephanie McKay on the Tricky song "Excess", which is on his album Blowback. Morissette released her fifth studio album, Under Rug Swept, in February 2002. For the first time in her career, she took on the role of sole writer and producer of an album. Her band, comprising Joel Shearer, Nick Lashley, Chris Chaney, and Gary Novak, played the majority of the instruments; additional contributions came from Eric Avery, Dean DeLeo, Flea, and Meshell Ndegeocello.

Under Rug Swept debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, eventually going platinum in Canada and selling one million copies in the U.S.^[17][46] It produced the hit single "Hands Clean", which topped the Canadian Singles Chart and received substantial radio play; for her work on "Hands Clean" and "So Unsexy", Morissette won a Juno Award for Producer of the Year.^[47] A second single, "Precious Illusions", was released, but it did not garner significant success outside Canada or U.S. hot AC radio.

Later in 2002, Morissette released the combination package Feast on Scraps, which includes a DVD of live concert and backstage documentary footage directed by her and a CD containing eight previously unreleased songs from the Under Rug Swept recording sessions. Preceded by the single "Simple Together", it sold roughly 70,000 copies in the U.S. and was nominated for a Juno Award for Music DVD of the Year.^[46][48]

[edit] 2004–05: So-Called Chaos, Jagged Little Pill Acoustic and The Collection

Alanis Morissette, 2004

	"Everything" (2004) noicon The first single from So Called Chaos showcased a more relaxed and self-evaluating Morissette and was a moderate success.
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Morissette hosted the Juno Awards of 2004 dressed in a bathrobe, which she took off to reveal a flesh-colored bodysuit, a response to the era of censorship in the U.S. caused by Janet Jackson's breast-reveal incident during the Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show.^[49] Morissette released her sixth studio album, So-Called Chaos, in May 2004. She wrote the songs on her own again, and co-produced the album with Tim Thorney and pop music producer John Shanks. The album debuted at number five on the Billboard 200 chart to generally mixed critical reviews, and it became Morissette's lowest seller in the U.S.^[46] The lead single, "Everything", achieved major success on adult top 40 radio in America and was moderately popular elsewhere, particularly in Canada, although it failed to reach the top 40 on the U.S. Hot 100. Because the first line of the song includes the word asshole, American radio stations refused to play it, and the single version was changed to include the word nightmare instead.^[49] Two other singles, "Out Is Through" and "Eight Easy Steps", fared considerably worse commercially than "Everything", although a dance mix of "Eight Easy Steps" was a U.S. club hit.

Morissette embarked on a U.S. summer tour with long-time friends and fellow Canadians Barenaked Ladies, working with the non-profit environmental organization Reverb.^[50]

To commemorate the tenth anniversary of Jagged Little Pill, Morissette released a studio acoustic version, Jagged Little Pill Acoustic, in June 2005. The album was released exclusively through Starbucks' Hear Music retail concept through their coffee shops for a six-week run. The limited availability led to a dispute between Maverick Records and HMV North America, who retaliated by removing Morissette's other albums from sale for the duration of Starbucks's exclusive six-week sale.^[51][52] As of November 2010, Jagged Little Pill Acoustic had sold 372,000 copies in the U.S.,^[53] and a video for "Hand in My Pocket" received rotation on VH1 in America. The accompanying tour ran for two months in mid 2005, with Morissette playing small theatre venues. During the same period, Morissette was inducted into Canada's Walk of Fame.^[54]

Morissette opened for The Rolling Stones for a few dates of their A Bigger Bang Tour in the autumn of 2005.

Morissette released the greatest hits album Alanis Morissette: The Collection in late 2005. The lead single and only new track, a cover of Seal's "Crazy", was a U.S. adult top 40 and dance hit, but it achieved only minimal chart success elsewhere. A limited edition of The Collection features a DVD including a documentary with videos of two unreleased songs from Morissette's 1996 Can't Not Tour: "King of Intimidation" and "Can't Not". (A reworked version of "Can't Not" had also appeared on Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.) The DVD also includes a ninety-second clip of the unreleased video for the single "Joining You". As of November 2010, The Collection had sold 373,000 copies in the U.S., according to Soundscan.^[53]

Morissette contributed the song "Wunderkind" to the soundtrack of the film The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and it was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song.^[55]

Alanis performed two songs with Avril Lavigne: Morissette's "Ironic" and Lavigne's "Losing Grip".

[edit] 2006–10: Flavors of Entanglement and leaving Maverick Records

Alanis during a live concert in Barcelona, June 2008

2006 marked the first year in Morissette's musical career without a single concert appearance showcasing her own songs, with the exception of an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in January when she performed "Wunderkind".

On April 1, 2007, Morissette released a tongue-in-cheek cover of The Black Eyed Peas's selection "My Humps", which she recorded in a slow, mournful voice, accompanied only by a piano. The accompanying YouTube-hosted video, in which she dances provocatively with a group of men and hits the ones who attempt to touch her "lady lumps", had received 16,465,653 views on February 15, 2009.^[56] Morissette did not take any interviews for a time to explain the song, and it was theorized that she did it as an April Fools' Day joke.^[57] Black Eyed Peas vocalist Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson responded by sending Morissette a buttocks-shaped cake with an approving note.^[58] On the verge of the release of her latest album, she finally elaborated on how the video came to be, citing that she became very much emotionally loaded while recording her new songs one after the other and one day she wished she could do a simple song like "My Humps" in a conversation with Guy Sigsworth and the joke just took a life of its own when they started working on it.^[56]

Morissette performed at a gig for The Nightwatchman, a.k.a. Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and Audioslave fame, at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles in April 2007. The following June, she performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" and "O Canada", the American and Canadian national anthems, in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Finals between the Ottawa Senators and the Anaheim Ducks in Ottawa, Ontario.^[59] (The NHL requires arenas to perform both the American and Canadian national anthems at games involving teams from both countries.) In early 2008, Morissette participated in a tour with Matchbox Twenty and Mutemath as a special guest.

Morissette's seventh studio album, Flavors of Entanglement, which was produced by Guy Sigsworth, was released in mid 2008. She has stated that in late 2008, she would embark on a North American headlining tour, but in the meantime she would be promoting the album internationally by performing at shows and festivals and making television and radio appearances. The album's first single was "Underneath", a video for which was submitted to the 2007 Elevate Film Festival, the purpose of which festival was to create documentaries, music videos, narratives and shorts regarding subjects to raise the level of human consciousness on the earth.^[60] On October 3, 2008, Morissette released the video for her latest single, "Not as We".^[61]

Recently, Morissette has contributed to 1 Giant Leap, performing "Arrival" with Zap Mama and she has released an acoustic version of her song "Still" as part of a compilation from Music for Relief in support of the 2010 Haiti earthquake crisis. Morissette has also recorded a cover of the 1984 Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias hit, "To All the Girls I've Loved Before", re-written as "To All the Boys I've Loved Before".^[62] Nelson played rhythm guitar on the recording.^[62]

In April 2010, Morissette released the song "I Remain", which she wrote for the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time soundtrack.

On May 26, 2010, the season finale of American Idol, Morissette performed a duet of her song "You Oughta Know" with Runner Up Crystal Bowersox.^[63]

Morissette left Maverick Records after all promotion for Flavors was completed.

[edit] 2011–present: Havoc and Bright Lights and upcoming 2012 tour

On October 11, 2011, Morissette posted a picture of herself in a recording studio to her Facebook page. The picture included the message "back in the studio saddle....the songs have come in droves...!", indicating that Morissette had begun work on her next album. However, it was unknown if she would be still associated with Maverick Records, after the completion of her last album Flavors of Entanglement.^[64]

On November 20, 2011, Morissette appeared at the American Music Awards. When asked about the new album during a short interview, she said she had recorded thirty-one songs, and that the album would "likely be out next year, probably [in] summertime".^[65]

On December 21, 2011, Morissette performed a duet of "Uninvited" with finalist Josh Krajcik during the performance finale of the X-Factor.

Morissette is embarking on a European tour for the Summer of 2012, according to Alanis.com. In early May 2012, a new song called "Magical Child" appeared on a Starbucks compilation called Every Mother Counts.^[66]

Rolling Stone Magazine initially reported that Morissette's new album would be released in June 2012 and revealed the titles of four album tracks: "Spiral," "Guardian," "Celebrity," and "Havoc." "Spiral" and "Guardian" were performed at Guitar Center sessions.^[67] "Havoc" is a ballad, while "Celebrity" is described to be "a scathing takedown of America's obsession with fame."^[68]

On May 2, 2012, Morissette revealed through her Facebook account that her eighth studio album, entitled Havoc and Bright Lights, would be released in August 2012, on new label "Collective Sound", distributed by Sony's RED Distribution.^[69] On the same day, Billboard precised the date as August 28 and revealed the album would contain twelve tracks. The album's lead single, "Guardian", is due for release on iTunes on May 15, 2012, and will hit the radio airwaves four days prior to this.^[70]

Acting career[link]

In 1986, Morissette had her first stint as an actor: five episodes of the children's television show You Can't Do That on Television. She appeared on stage with the Orpheus Musical Theatre Society in 1985 and 1988.^[71]

In 1993, she appeared in the film Just One of the Girls starring Corey Haim, which she described as "horrible".^{[clarification needed][citation needed]}

In 1999, Morissette delved into acting again, for the first time since 1993, appearing as God in the Kevin Smith comedy Dogma and contributing the song "Still" to its soundtrack. Morissette reprised her role as God for a post-credits scene in Smith's next film, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, to literally close the book on the View Askewniverse. She also appeared in the hit HBO comedies Sex and the City and Curb Your Enthusiasm, appeared in the play The Vagina Monologues, and had a brief role in the Brazilian hit soap opera "Celebridade" (Celebrity).

In late 2003, Morissette appeared in the Off-Broadway play The Exonerated as Sunny Jacobs, a death row inmate freed after proof surfaced that she was innocent. In April 2006, MTV News reported that Morissette would reprise her role in The Exonerated in London from May 23 until May 28.^[72]

She expanded her acting credentials with the July 2004 release of the Cole Porter biographical film De-Lovely, in which she performed the song "Let's Do It (Let's Fall in Love)" and had a brief role as an anonymous stage performer. In February 2005, she made a guest appearance on the Canadian television show Degrassi: The Next Generation with Dogma co-star Jason Mewes and director Kevin Smith.

In 2006, she guest starred in an episode of Lifetime's Lovespring International as a homeless woman named Lucinda, three episodes of FX's Nip/Tuck, playing a lesbian named Poppy, and the mockumentary/documentary Pittsburgh as herself.

Morissette has appeared in eight episodes of Weeds, playing Dr. Audra Kitson, a "no-nonsense obstetrician" who treats pregnant main character Nancy Botwin.^[73] Her first episode aired in July 2009.

In early 2010 Morissette returned to the stage, performing a one night engagement in An Oak Tree, an experimental play in Los Angeles. The performance was a sell out. In April 2010 Morissette was confirmed in the cast of Weeds season six, performing again her role as Dr. Audra Kitson.^[74]

Morissette also starred in a film adaptation of Philip K. Dick's novel Radio Free Albemuth. Morissette plays Sylvia, an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma. Morissette stated that she is "...a big fan of Philip K. Dick's poetic and expansively imaginative books" and that she "feel[s] blessed to portray Sylvia, and to be part of this story being told in film".^[75]

She appeared as Ava Alexander's Maya Rudolph former Sound LLC bandmate, Amanda in one episode of NBC's "Up All Night" ^[76] on February 16, 2012. Rudolph officiated as minister for Morissette's wedding with both performing the explicit version of their hit hip-hop song, "Back It Up (Beep Beep)".

Personal life[link]

Morissette dated actor and comedian Dave Coulier for a short time in the early 1990s.^[77] In a 2008 interview with the Calgary Herald, Coulier claimed to be the ex-boyfriend who inspired Morissette's song "You Oughta Know".^[78] Morissette, however, has maintained her silence on the subject of the song.^[79]

Morissette met Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds at Drew Barrymore's birthday party in 2002, and the couple began dating soon after.^[80] They announced their engagement in June 2004.^[78] In February 2007, representatives for Morissette and Reynolds announced they had mutually decided to end their engagement.^[81] Morissette has stated that her album Flavors of Entanglement was created out of her grief after the break-up, saying that "it was cathartic".^[82]

Morissette became an American citizen in 2005, while maintaining her Canadian citizenship.^[9]

On May 22, 2010, Morissette married rapper Mario “MC Souleye” Treadway (born May 3, 1980 in Boston, Massachusetts) in a private ceremony at their Los Angeles home.^[83] Their first child, Ever Imre Morissette-Treadway, was born on December 25, 2010.^[84]

Morissette is also a vegan, and an active environmentalist.^[85]

Discography[link]

• Alanis (1991)
• Now Is the Time (1992)
• Jagged Little Pill (1995)
• Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie (1998)
• Under Rug Swept (2002)
• So-Called Chaos (2004)
• Flavors of Entanglement (2008)
• Havoc and Bright Lights (2012)

Filmography[link]

Tours[link]

• 1991: Vanilla Ice tour (opening act)
• 1995: Jagged Little Pill/Intellectual Intercourse Tour
• 1996: Can't Not Tour
• 1998: Club Tour (Alanis Morissette tour)
• 1999: Junkie Tour
• 1999: Junkie Tour Australian Leg (with Garbage)
• 1999: 5 ½ Weeks Tour (with Tori Amos)
• 2000: One Tour
• 2001: Under Rug Swept Tour
• 2002: Toward Our Union Mended Tour
• 2003: All I Really Want/Feast on Scraps Tour
• 2004: So-Called Chaos/Au Naturale Tour (with Barenaked Ladies)
• 2005: Diamond Wink Tour
• 2008: Exile in America (with Matchbox Twenty and Mutemath)
• 2008: Flavors of Entanglement Tour
• 2009: Flavors of Entanglement South American Tour

Awards and nominations[link]

See also[link]

	Book: Alanis Morissette
Wikipedia books are collections of articles that can be downloaded or ordered in print.

• Canadian rock
• Music of Canada
• Best selling music artists
• List of diamond-certified albums in Canada
• List of best-selling albums worldwide
• List of best-selling music artists

References[link]

Further reading[link]

External links[link]

Find more about Alanis Morissette on Wikipedia's sister projects:
	Images and media from Commons
	Quotations from Wikiquote

• Official website
• Alanis Morissette discography at Discogs
• Alanis Morissette at the Internet Movie Database
• Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill Review at Spectrum FM