- I don't need my readers, that's good.
I don't need my readers.
I'm nervous.
I don't normally give speeches, I play drums for a living,
and one of the reasons I play drums for a living
is because of an amazing woman who's here tonight.
I think I can see you.
Alanis Morissette.
(audience cheer and applause)
I've said it before and I'll say it again,
I would probably be delivering pizzas
to someone you know tonight if it wasn't for her.
I mean it, she gave me a break,
and she's awesome.
She was an amazing boss.
She went through 18 months of insanity
from here to insanity, and she handled it with grace.
Now I'm gonna read my speech.
I played with Alanis on her Can't Not tour,
right after "Jagged Little Pill" came out.
On that tour, I witnessed Alanis
become not just a star, but an icon.
Someone who inspired countless musicians, including myself.
After her... (mumbles)
Sorry, I already fucked up the speech.
(laughter)
I knew that was gonna happen.
Can you go back a little bit?
Thank you, yeah, yeah.
Who inspired countless musicians after her
and changed the power structure of an industry.
It wasn't easy.
When radio stations said they couldn't play her single
because they already had female artists in their rotation,
well, they played the fuck out of it.
Let me tell you, because there was no stopping it.
There just wasn't.
The week it came out, it went bananas,
and it was amazing, and I saw it first-hand.
Anyways, yes, the rotation.
♪ The rotation ♪
The power of Alanis' music overcame it.
It definitely did, because it was fucking amazing.
And the sexism, didn't matter, didn't matter who it was,
because that's how good it was.
She sold out shows, she topped charts.
She was played on the radio a lot.
And then an incredible thing happened.
Thank you (laughs).
More women began to get airtime.
Sarah McLachlan, Ani DiFranco,
the Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow.
They had already (audience member cheers)
accomplished a lot, (audience light applause)
and they were respected, but suddenly radio stations
were willing to play their songs back to back.
Alanis' efforts made gender irrelevant.
Since spearheading that sea-change,
Alanis has won seven Grammys, 10 Junos,
the UN Global Tolerance Award, damn.
(laughter)
Damn, and many more.
I don't wanna get so stiff as Alisha put it (laughs).
I'm feeling a little stiff (chuckles).
She's continued to influence and awe fans and artists alike
with her confessional style and cathartic performances.
Man I saw 'em, she never missed one.
Off script, I mean I don't even know how many shows
we played that year, and she never fucking missed one.
Never, and she sang every night
and, you know we were going on before
Rage Against the Machine and bands like that.
To watch her sort of have to prove herself...
I don't mean prove herself, but like, you know,
it was a tough time, the 90s, everyone was walking around.
"Are you real, are you real?"
To see her go on and we played with David Bowie,
we played with all these people and she just,
once she got to the front of that stage it didn't matter
who was before or who was after, it did not fucking matter.
'Cause it was on, every time.
Game on, every time.
Never missed a show.
That's, all right, I'm flipping the script.
All right. (audience member laughs)
She became a mom of three.
She mined that experience for the deep insight
we've come to expect from her.
"Flavors of Entanglement", and "Havoc and Bright Lights"
saw her embrace a sensitivity
she hadn't revealed on previous albums.
I'm trying really hard (laughs).
(laughter)
And now with her podcast (audience cheers)
and a brand new Broadway musical,
inspired by that ground breaking album,
"Jagged Little Pill".
And I know it well.
And a new album coming this spring, she's truly unstoppable.
She is, she really is, she always was.
From the day I met her, and I thank you so much,
for everything, for me, and for everyone here.
I've been so fortunate to witness Alanis' artistic growth,
personal determination, over the last 25 years.
And here she is tonight.
She's the type of musician and person who comes along
just, God, once in my lifetime, if you're lucky.
And I was lucky enough to meet her.