Avril Lavigne

Biography

Avril Lavigne was born in Canada on September 27th, 1984. She spent the majority of her life growing up in the small town of Napanee, Ontario, Canada. Her music is a mix of rock, teen pop and pop-punk. Avril started off singing country songs for amateur producers in her home town.

At the age of 14 (1998), Avril won the chance to sing with award winning singer, Shania Twain, in front of 20,000 people. Shortly after Avril realised she wanted to follow her passion for music, and dropped out of school to move to New York. There she sang for L.A. Reid once word got around that a small town girl from Canada had moved to the city in search of a music career. Once Avril demonstrated her then raw musical skills and vocals, she was instantly signed.

Avril was then put into the studio to start recording a country record, in which she was given songs to sing. Avril protested and requested that her contract be extended to include that she at least co-write all songs on her records. She was granted her wish. She then moved to L.A. to record a record she had planned, a record inspired by her idols Alanis Morissette and band Green Day. She first worked with Cliff Magness where they both bonded on the opinion that the music industry was a corrupt place only for packaged pop artists. In protest they both came together and wrote the song ‘Unwanted’. Once RCA heard this song they requested a softer sound, and a compromise was made in the shape of the Matrix. Avril agree to work with 3 talented musicians that were building a reputation in the industry as great song-writers. Together they wrote ‘Complicated’, set to be her debut single. Once ‘Complicated’ was written, the path for Avril’s debut record was set in stone and the rest of the record came about easily with the lyrics and melodies flowing from all parties.

Let Go was released in June 2002, and went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard top 200, and her 3 debut singles followed the success and went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard Pop 100. ‘Complicated’, ‘Sk8er Boi’, and ‘I’m With You’ established Avril as one of the biggest recording artists of all time, and she was the only female artist at the time to get 3 consecutive #1’s from a debut record. Let Go went on to sell 17 million records, making it the 8th best selling record of the noughties.

Avril later toured the record on her ‘Try to Shut Me Up’ tour. She toured for a year, and once she retured she immediately started to write her 2nd record with artist Chantal Kreviazuk. Avril claimed that the record took less than two weeks to write and she felt inspired by all of the situations she was faced with in prior years leading up to the record. For that reason she titled the record ‘Under My Skin’.

‘Under My Skin’ went straight to #1 in most countries around the world, and it’s first single ‘Don’t Tell Me’ was a moderate hit, however the 2nd single ‘My Happy Ending’ would end up to be the biggest single from the record, ultimately leading the era into one of the most successful female tours of all time, ‘The Bonez Tour’ which consisted of over 144 tour dates globally.

Once Avril finished touring ‘Under My Skin’, she took a 2 year break to marry rocker Deryck Whibley and follow her acting career, in which she featured in such films as ‘Fast Food Nation’, ‘Over the Hedge’, and ‘The Flock’. Once she adjusted to her married life, Avril was anxious to start writing a 3rd record. In a happy place, she hired hitmaker Dr. Luke to make the fun record she had dreamed about for nearly 2 years. The writing process included Avril getting drunk and skate boarding in the car park while singing random melodies. 6 months down the line and Avril had her 3rd record ‘The Best Damn Thing’.

Once released, ‘The Best Damn Thing’ became Avril’s consecutive #1 record. Although the record sold less than her first two, no one expected such a monster single coming from such a boasting titled record. ‘Girlfriend’ went onto be the stars biggest hit ever, and sold over 7 million digital copies in 2007 alone. Although she experiened huge success, she failed to make impact with the following 3 singles.

Avril has since toured with her successful ‘The Best Damn Tour’, and has started her own clothing range, ‘Abbey Dawn’, and has released a fragrance called ‘Black Star’ and ‘Forbidden Rose’.

Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released on March 8, 2011. Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, which was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010. In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together, with Whibley producing her fourth album, as well as Lavigne’s single, “Alice”, written for Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland.