Chappell Roan has been very open about her struggle with the pressures of fame as a young woman, and she’s shared how some artists who’ve been through similar experiences have reached out to her and offered support, like Lorde, Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX. But one female icon of the ’90s wants to help, too.
Speaking to W magazine, Alanis Morissette laments the fact that there was no “sisterhood” of female artists when she started out. “It was quite the opposite, actually. The pervasive messaging was very much: You pick a lane, and you stay in it. And if you step out of your lane, it’s career suicide, which is total bulls***.”
She describes being on “festival bills with 342 men, and I was the only woman,” saying “the male bands would move around the lineup ‘because who cares? It’s Alanis. She can play before me."”
“And then I’d show up and I would put my foot down, and they’d be super gaslighty, like, ‘Oh, she’s a diva."”
So now, Alanis says, “When I’m in a position where it’s flipped and maybe a young artist will have my phone number, I make sure that I respond like a motherf*****. I want to be available for those who may need me in the way that I needed [someone] 30 years [ago].”
“I completely understand what it’s like to be inside the white-hot heat of fame and notoriety,” she continues. “And I think about Chappell Roan right now. I think about these women who are just in it. I’m here. Even if they wanted to text me at four in the morning and go, ‘What the f*** about —’ fill in the blank, I’d be like, ‘Yeah, that is bulls***!’”
“I love Chappell. Her whole journey, I’m signed up for.”
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