It has long been known that Alanis Morissette’s music has been a major source of inspiration for pop maven Olivia Rodrigo. From citing Jagged Little Pill as the blueprint for her debut album Sour and performing covers of her tracks to bringing Morissette herself on stage for a duet, Rodrigo is a fan through and through.
Over the weekend, Rodrigo was given the opportunity to honor the pop-rock trailblazer further at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame. The “Deja Vu” singer took the stage at Toronto’s Massey Hall on Saturday (Sept. 24) to praise Morissette for her fearless songwriting.
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Rodrigo began, “My life was completely changed. Alanis’ songwriting was unlike anything I’d ever heard before and I haven’t heard anything quite like it since. And that voice—fierce and tender and sometimes funny and playful. I became hooked for life.
“Alanis captured the anger, the grief, and the love of the human experience better than anyone. Her songs unite people and empower people and help them heal. Alanis, you’re a trailblazer and you’ve inspired an entire generation of uncompromising, radically honest songwriting.
“But even more than your long list of musical achievements, I look up to your character and your kindness most of all. If they had a Hall of Fame for being the most incredible human being with the biggest heart, I’m 100 percent positive you’d be inducted into that one as well.”
Find a fan-shot clip of the moment below.
The admiration is mutual between Rodrigo and Morissette. The duo appeared together on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine last year and Rodrigo brought out Morissette for a surprise duet of her 1995 smash hit “You Oughta Know” during a concert back in May.
In her acceptance speech, Morissette admitted that songwriting is “the worst” and feels like a “daunting” task. She went on to explain that the lyrics to her song start out as a self-serving pursuit but become more about her fans once the song is released.
Morissette was inducted alongside Bryan Adams, his songwriting partner David Foster and singer-songwriter Daniel Lavoie.
Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images
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