Avril Lavigne

Lavigne, singing on stage

**Avril Ramona Lavigne** (born 27 September 1984), known professionally as Avril Lavigne is a Canadian singer and songwriter. Lavigne signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records in November 2000. Her debut studio album, *Let Go*, is the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian artist. It yielded the singles *"Complicated"* and *"Sk8er Boi"*, which emphasized a skate punk persona and earned her the title "Pop Punk Queen" from music publications. She is considered a key musician in the development of pop punk music since she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. Her second studio album, *Under My Skin*, became Lavigne's first album to reach the top of the Billboard 200 chart in the United States, going on to sell 10 million copies worldwide.

Lavigne's third studio album, *The Best Damn Thing*, reached number one in seven countries worldwide and saw the international success of its lead single *"Girlfriend"*, which became her first single to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Her next two studio albums, *Goodbye Lullaby* and *Avril Lavigne*, saw continued commercial success and were both certified gold in Canada, the United States, and other territories. After releasing her sixth studio album, *Head Above Water*, she returned to her punk roots with her seventh studio album, *Love Sux*.

Alongside her music career, Lavigne voiced an animated character in the film *Over the Hedge* and made her screen acting debut in *Fast Food Nation*. Her accolades include eight Grammy Awards nominations.

## Discography

* *Let Go*
* *Under My Skin*
* *The Best Damn Thing*
* *Goodbye Lullaby*
* *Avril Lavigne*
* *Head Above Water*
* *Love Sux*

## Influences

Lavigne's earlier influences came from country music acts such as Garth Brooks, the Dixie Chicks and Shania Twain; and alternative singer-songwriters such as Alanis Morissette, Lisa Loeb, Natalie Imbruglia and Janis Joplin. By the time she left school to focus on her music career, Lavigne was musically more influenced by skate punk, pop punk and punk rock acts such as blink-182, the Offspring, Sum 41, NOFX, Pennywise, Dashboard Confessional, Green Day, the Ramones, the Distillers and Hole. She also enjoyed metal bands such as Marilyn Manson, System of a Down, Incubus and the Used; as well as alternative bands such as Nirvana, No Doubt, the Goo Goo Dolls, Radiohead, the Cranberries, Coldplay, Oasis, Third Eye Blind and Matchbox Twenty.

Because of these influences, musical genres, and Lavigne's personal style, the media often defined her as punk, something she said she was not. Lavigne's close friend and guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, said, "It's a very touchy subject to a lot of people, but the point is that Avril isn't punk, but she never really pretended to claim to come from that scene. She had pop punk music and the media ended up doing the rest". Lavigne commented on the matter: "I have been labeled like I'm this angry girl, [a] rebel ... punk, and I am so not any of them." However, she has also said that her music has punk influences: "I like to listen a lot to punk rock music, you can notice a certain influence of punk in my music. I like an aggressive music, but pretty enough heavy pop-rock, which is what I really do."

## Trivia

All trivia courtesy of IMDb.

* Her ancestry is French-Canadian, Polish, English, Irish, and Scottish.
* At sixteen, she moved to Manhattan and began work on her debut album. She dropped out of high school after the 11th grade when she secured a record deal.
* Her musical industry nicknames include "Pop-Punk Queen", "Pop Rock Princess", and "Punk Rock Princess".
* She is 5 foot 5 inches, which is around 1.65 meters and 165 centermeters.

## References

1. ↑ American Songwriter — "The 30 Best Avril Lavigne Quotes". Written by Jacob Uitti. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
2. ↑ MTV — "Avril Lavigne: The Real Deal". Published 12 March 2009. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
3. ↑ Bustle — "11 Times Kelly Osbourne's Early 2000 Outfits Were Our Pop Punk Inspiration – PHOTOS". Published 2 August 2016. Written by Ione Gamble. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
4. ↑ MTV — "Which 2004 Pop Punk Princess Are You?". Published 11 September 2015. Written by Emily Linder. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
5. ↑ Narcity — "12 Things The World Wouldn't Have Without Canadian Music". Published 13 June 2017. Written by Miranda Cipolla. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
6. ↑ Quarter Rock Press — "Avril Lavigne, the greatest exponent of pop punk". Written by Armando Rosales. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
7. ↑ Walmart — "Rock N' Roll (Walmart Exclusive), Avril Lavigne: Pop". Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
8. ↑ Entertainment Tonight (E!) — "How Well Does Avril Lavigne Know Nickelback?". Published 23 April 2013. Written by Raphael Chestang. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
9. ↑ Digital Spy — "Avril Lavigne new album scheduled for September?". Published 24 April 2013. Written by Lewis Corner. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
10. ↑ Rolling Stone — "Avril Lavigne Gets Back to Her Aughts Emo Bubble-Punk Roots on the Absolutely Killer 'Love Sux'". Published 25 February 2022. Written by Brittany Spanos. Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived
11. ↑ IMDb — "Avril Lavigne - Biography - IMDb". Retrieved 11 February 2023. Archived