One of the American Music Awards most talked-about moments was the performance of a song that came out 20 years ago. You have one guess. Off Alanis Morissette‘s groundbreaking breakout album, none other than Jagged Little Pill, Alanis decided to celebrate its 20th anniversary by performing one of her greatest hits “You Oughta Know.” If that wasn’t a treat within itself, she chose none other than Demi Lovato to perform the powerful song by her side. Alanis stated that for her, it was a demonstration of a new, collaborative climate in music: “In the ’90s, collaboration was an odd thing; it was like Picasso and Monet doing a painting together was just kind of gross, whereas now, there’s just kind of a world of collaboration.” She has definitely demonstrated embracing the modern collaborative community this year: hitting the stage with Taylor Swift during her 1989 World Tour, contributing to Justin Bieber‘s “What Do You Mean“ build-up, and now performing at the AMAs with Demi Lovato. Billboard sat down with Alanis to talk about the duet, read some of the highlights below. For the full interview, click here:
How did your duet with Demi Lovato come together?
The AMAs and people on my team were brainstorming about something really special to mark the end of the Jagged Little Pill 20th anniversary. So they had a few names up their sleeves that they ran up our flagpole, and when I heard Demi Lovato’s name, I got really excited.
Did you already know Demi?
I’d never met her before. I did the 24 Hour Plays with Wilmer [Valderrama], her boyfriend. I know her music, and I was also really impressed and touched with her advocacy for recovery and also speaking out about loving one’s body. I was just really moved by her activism and her mission.
While yours and Demi’s musical paths aren’t exactly the same, you both have these big, booming voices that really worked together.
I already knew she sang beautifully, but when I saw her perform her single before our performance together, I just thought, “Oh my gosh, this is gonna be really fun.” During our rehearsal, when she was harmonizing with me, it was stunning, because I’ve been such a solo artist. You know, I’ve been singing alone for so long. To have a huge-voiced goddess with me was lovely.