Avril Lavigne From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Avril Lavigne Lavigne at The Best Damn Tour 2008, Beijing Wukesong Arena, October 2008 Background information Birth name      Avril Ramona Lavigne Born    September 27, 1984  (age 24) Origin  Belleville, Ontario, Canada Genre(s) Pop rock[1][2][3] Alternative rock[2] Pop punk[1][4] Post-grunge[5][6][7][8] (early albums) Occupation(s)   Singer, songwriter, actress, model, designer Instrument(s) Vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, Piano, Drums Years active    2002–present Label(s) Arista (2002–2005) RCA (2006–present) Associated acts Evan Taubenfeld, Deryck Whibley Website www.avrillavigne.com Notable instrument(s) Squier Signature Telecaster model Avril Ramona Lavigne Whibley[9] (born September 27, 1984), better known by her birth name Avril Lavigne (pronounced /ˈćvrɨl ləˈviːn/), is a Canadian singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. Lavigne has sold more than 30 million copies of her albums worldwide. [10] She is currently one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the United States, with over 10.25 million copies certified by the Recording Industry Association of America.[11] She has been dubbed as the 'pop-punk princess' by various sources.[12][13][14] Lavigne broke into the recording industry with her debut album, Let Go, released in 2002. As of 2009, over 16 million copies were sold worldwide, more than 6 million of which were sold in the United States. Her second and third album, Under My Skin and The Best Damn Thing, reached number one on the Global charts. Lavigne has scored five number-one singles worldwide, including Complicated , Sk8er Boi , I'm With You , My Happy Ending and Girlfriend . Contents [hide] •     1 Early years •     2 Music career o       2.1 Let Go (2002–2003) o       2.2 Under My Skin (2004–2005) o       2.3 The Best Damn Thing (2006–2008) o       2.4 Fourth studio album (2009–Present) •     3 Film career •     4 Other works o       4.1 Entrepreneurship o       4.2 Philanthropy •     5 Personal life •     6 Musical _style_ and public image o       6.1 Controversy •     7 Backing band •     8 Discography •     9 Filmography •     10 Notes •     11 References •     12 External _link_s Early years Avril Ramona Lavigne was born to a French-born father, Jean-Claude, and a Franco-Ontarian mother, Judy, in Belleville, Ontario, Canada on September 27, 1984. Her father named her Avril after the month April in French.[15] She has an older brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Michelle.[16] Lavigne's mother was the first to spot young Lavigne's talent. At the age of two, Lavigne began singing church songs along with her mother. The family moved to Napanee, Ontario, when Lavigne was five years old. In 1998, Lavigne won a competition to sing with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain on her first major concert tour. She appeared alongside Twain at her concert in Ottawa, appearing on stage to sing What Made You Say That . She was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario.[15] During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folk singer Steve Medd, who invited her to contribute vocals on his song, Touch the Sky , for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit. She also sang on Temple of Life and Two Rivers for his follow up 2000 album, My Window to You.[15] Music career In November 2000,[a][17] Lavigne was signed by Ken Krongard, an A&R representative to Arista Records, who invited the head of Arista, Antonio L.A. Reid, to hear her sing at the Manhattan studio of producer Peter Zizzo.[15][18] Signed as a singer, Lavigne was pitched with songs written by others. However, she dismissed them, insisting she wanted to write herself. For a year, Lavigne and Arista had conflicts in musical direction. She collaborated with the production team The Matrix, and the ensuing album is called Let Go.[19] Let Go (2002–2003) Lavigne released her debut album, Let Go, on June 4, 2002 in the United States, where it reached number two. It peaked at number one in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This made Lavigne, at seventeen, the youngest female soloist to have a number-one album in the United Kingdom until that time.[20] By the end of 2002, the album was certified four-time platinum by the RIAA, making her the best- selling female artist of 2002 and Let Go as the top-selling debut of the year.[21] By May 2003, Let Go had accumulated over 1,000,000 sales in Canada, receiving a diamond certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association.[22] As of 2009, the album has sold over 16 million worldwide.[23] RIAA has certified the album six-time platinum, denoting shipments of over six million.[24] Lavigne's debut single and the album's lead single, Complicated , went to number one in Australia and number two in the United States. Complicated was one of the best-selling Canadian singles of 2002. Complicated was also featured on the teen television show, Dawson's Creek.[citation needed] Subsequent singles Sk8er Boi and I'm With You reached the top ten in the United States.[25] Thanks to the big success of her first three singles Lavigne was the first artist of the decade to have three #1 songs from a debut album on the Billboard Mainstream Top 40. Lavigne was named Best New Artist at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, won four Juno Awards in 2003 out of six nominations, received a World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Canadian Singer , and was nominated for eight Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for Complicated and Best New Artist.[26][27][28] Lavigne appeared in the video to Hundred Million by the pop-punk band Treble Charger and covered Green Day's Basket Case , which she performed at her first headlining tour the Try To Shut Me Up Tour . [29] Under My Skin (2004–2005) Lavigne in Vancouver, Canada during the Live and by Surprise mall tour Lavigne co-wrote Breakaway with Matthew Gerard, and was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for the soundtrack to the 2004 film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.[30] Breakaway was later included on Clarkson's second album, Breakaway, and released as the album's lead single. Lavigne has also covered The Goo Goo Dolls' mega-hit Iris , produced by Eric Book, and performed with the band's lead singer John Rzeznik at the Fashion Rocks concert in 2004.[31] She also recorded the theme song for The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie.[32] Lavigne's second studio album, Under My Skin, was released on May 25, 2004, debuting at number one in several countries, including Australia, Mexico, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.[33] The album has sold more than 10 million copies. Lavigne wrote most of the album's tracks with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. Kreviazuk's husband, Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida, co-produced the album with Butch Walker and Don Gilmore. Lavigne went on a Live and by Surprise twenty-one city mall-tour in the U.S. and Canada to promote the album, each performance consisted of a short live acoustic set of songs from the new album. She was accompanied by her guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld, by the end of 2004 and during a whole year Lavigne embarked into her first world tour the Bonez Tour which visited almost every continent around the world. Don't Tell Me the first single of the album went to number one in Argentina and Mexico, the top five in the UK and Canada, and the top ten in Australia and Brazil. My Happy Ending the album's lead single went to number one in Mexico, top five in the UK and Australia, In the United States it reached the top ten of Billboard Hot 100 and went to #1 in the U.S. Mainstream Top 40, making it her forth-biggest hit there. third single Nobody's Home did not make the top forty in the U.S., and it only went to number one in Mexico and Argentina. The fourth single from the album, He Wasn't , reached top forty positions in the UK and Australia, and was not released in the U.S.[34] Fall to Pieces was released as the final single from the album, but did not do as well as previous singles. Lavigne won two World Music Awards in 2004 for World's Best Pop/Rock Artist and World's Best-Selling Canadian Artist . She received five Juno Award nominations in 2005, picking up three, including Fan Choice Award , Pop Album of the Year and Artist of the Year . She won the award for Favorite Female Singer at the eighteenth Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards,[35] and got nominated in every single MTV Award show around the world. The Best Damn Thing (2006–2008) Lavigne represented Canada at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy, performing her song Who Knows during the eight minutes of the Vancouver 2010 portion.[36] Lavigne promoting The Best Damn Thing in Hong Kong, 2007 While Lavigne was in the studio in 2006 for her third studio album, Fox Entertainment Group approached her to write a song for the soundtrack to the 2006 fantasy-adventure film Eragon. She wrote and recorded two ballad-type songs, one of which Keep Holding On ended up being used for the film. Lavigne admitted that writing the song was challenging, making sure it flows along with the film. She, however, noted that Keep Holding On was not indicative of what the next album would be.[37] The song, which later appeared on the album, debuted on radio on November 20, 2006, and later released for digital download on November 28.[38][39] Lavigne's third album, The Best Damn Thing, was released on April 17, 2007. Lavigne undertook a small tour to promote the album. Its lead single, Girlfriend , topped the Billboard Hot 100, the week The Best Damn Thing debuted at number one on the Billboard 200.
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