Stay Signed In
Do you want to access your site more quickly on this computer? Check this box, and your username and password will be remembered for two weeks. Click logout to turn this off.
Stay Safe
Do not check this box if you are using a public computer. You don't want anyone seeing your personal info or messing with your site.
Avril Ramona Lavigne Whibley: (born September 27, 1984) is a Grammy Award-nominated Canadian rock singer and musician, having sold over 26 million albums worldwide. In 2006, Canadian Business Magazine ranked her the seventh most powerful Canadian in Hollywood.
Although her parents are of French origins, she doesn't speak French[2] and her name is usually pronounced in an anglicized way as /AVRIL LAVIGNE/ (in French it is commonly pronounced /AVRIL LAVIGNE/.Avril is French for "April", while la vigne means "the vine" or "the vineyard".
On the issue date of May 5, 2007, Lavigne scored her first ever Billboard Hot 100 #1 hit to date with "Girlfriend". Her third album, The Best Damn Thing, debuted at #1, on the same issue date, on the Billboard 200 Album Chart, making it her second #1 album after Under My Skin.
30 hits
BACKGROUND
Avril Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada,[3][4] to a French-born father, John, and a Franco-Ontarian[5] mother, Judy. Both parents are Catholic and she had a Catholic upbringing.[6] Avril's musical talent was first spotted at the age of two when her mother says Avril began singing along with her on church songs. The family moved to Napanee, Ontario, when Avril was five years old.[3]
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.[3] During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Avril was spotted by local folk singer Steve Medd (a relation of the influential Canadian journalist, Ben Medd), who invited her to sing 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 album, My Window to You, in 2000.[3]
At the age of 16 she was signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire (A&R) representative of Arista Records, who invited the head of Arista, Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear her sing at the New York City studio of producer Peter Zizzo.[3] She then completed work on her first album.
MUSIC CAREER
Let Go (2001-2003)
Let Go was released on June 4, 2002, in the United States, reaching number two there and number one in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. This made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to have a number-one album in the UK up until that time.[7] In 2003, 17-year-old English singer Joss Stone broke Lavigne's record.[citation needed]
Just over one month after its release, "Let Go" reached multi-platinum status in late-August,[8] and was certified triple platinum two weeks after.[9] Before the end of 2002, just six months after its debut, it was certified 4× platinum by the RIAA.[10] It sold a total of 13,197,000 copies worldwide. It was the best selling album of the year for a female artist and for a debut album in 2002.[11]
Four singles from the album were released. "Complicated" went to number one in Australia, while reaching number two on the U.S. Hot 100, and it was also one of the best-selling Canadian singles of 2002. Lavigne tied a record set by Natalie Imbruglia when "Complicated" held the number one spot on the Contemporary Hit Radio chart (which tracks air play on the radio) for 11 weeks in a row. Natalie Imbruglia previously held the record with her song "Torn", which also held onto number one for 11 weeks.[12] "Sk8er Boi" reached the top ten in the U.S. and Australia, "I'm With You" reached the top ten in the U.S and the UK, and "Losing Grip" reached the top ten in Taiwan, and the top 20 in Chile.
Lavigne was named "Best New Artist" at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards, won four Juno Awards in 2003 (out of six nominations), a World Music Award for World's Best-Selling Canadian Singer, and was nominated for 8 Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year for "Complicated" and Best New Artist.
Under My Skin (2004-2006)
Lavigne's second album Under My Skin was released on May 25, 2004, in the U.S. It debuted at number one in the U.S., the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, Ireland, Thailand, Korea and Hong Kong and sold more than 380,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week.[13] Lavigne wrote most of the album with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, though some tracks were co-written by Ben Moody (formerly of Evanescence), Butch Walker of Marvellous 3, and her former lead guitarist Evan Taubenfeld. Kreviazuk's husband, Our Lady Peace front man Raine Maida, co-produced the album with Butch Walker and Don Gilmore.
Lead single "Don't Tell Me" 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" reached the top ten in the U.S., and was her third-biggest hit there, but third single "Nobody's Home" did not make the top 40. The fourth single from the album, "He Wasn't", reached a fair 23 in the UK and 25 in Australia, and was not released in the U.S.[14] "Fall to Pieces" was released as the final single from the album, but did not do as well as previous singles.
Lavigne performing in Geneva on June 9, 2005.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, Artist of the Year, and Pop Album of the Year. She also won the award for Favourite Female Singer at the eighteenth Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards.[15] Lavigne co-wrote "Breakaway" with Matthew Gerard, which was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for the soundtrack to the film The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004)[16]. "Breakaway" was later included on Clarkson's second album Breakaway, being released as the album's first single. "Breakaway" peaked in the U.S. top ten and provided Clarkson with a substantial hit.
Lavigne went on a "Live and by Surprise" 21-city mall-tour in the U.S. and Canada, starting on March 4, 2004, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to promote "Under My Skin". Each performance consisted of a short live acoustic set of songs from the new album. She was accompanied by her guitarist, Evan Taubenfeld. The venue in each city was not announced until 48 hours before the show. The tour was very popular and was successful in promoting the album. The set at Indianapolis on March 25, 2004, at Glendale mall included "He Wasn't", "My Happy Ending", "Don't Tell Me", "Take Me Away", "Nobody's Home", "Sk8er Boi", and "Complicated". Selections of this tour were released on the Avril Lavigne Live Acoustic EP Single, which was released in US Target stores
Lavigne was touring throughout most of 2005, and pursuing her acting and modelling careers. Lavigne represented Canada at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She performed her song, "Who Knows", during the eight minutes of the Vancouver 2010 portion.[17]
The Best Damn Thing (2007–present)
Lavigne's third album The Best Damn Thing was released on April 17, 2007. The album was produced by Dr. Luke, her husband Deryck Whibley, Rob Cavallo, Butch Walker and Lavigne.[18][19] Travis Barker has also recorded drums on the record. The album made its radio debut in its entirety on Ottawa radio statio Hot 89.9 at 6:00 pm on April 14, 2007. Lavigne revealed in a posting on her MySpace blog that the first single from the album will be "Girlfriend". "Girlfriend" was due to be released on January 29, but the date was changed due to "Keep Holding On"'s increasing popularity on the radio. The video for "Girlfriend" debuted on February 26, and her single premiered on Ottawa radio station HOT 89.9 with evening personality Cash Conners February 6, 2006. Evan Taubenfeld, her former guitarist made a cameo in her video, confirmed in his Myspace blog.
On February 18, 2007, clips of "Everything Back But You", "I Can Do Better" and "When You're Gone" were released on AOL Music and received a mixed reaction from fans.[citation needed]
"Girlfriend" made its debut on the Billboard Hot 100 chart at #5 in early March 2007. This is Lavigne's highest debut ever on the chart and has already sold over 122,000 downloads through iTunes. "Girlfriend" also debuted at #3 on Billboard's Top Digital Songs which is Lavigne's second appearance on that chart. "Keep Holding On" being the first. The song "Girlfriend" is also available in seven other languages. However, only the chorus was translated into Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin, Japanese, Italian, German and French; the rest of the song remains in English. Lavigne's comeback single "Girlfriend" was added to the UK iTunes Music Store and reached #10 in under 24 hours. On Ryan Seacrest's radio show she said herself that "When You're Gone" will be the 2nd single.
Lavigne has been doing a small tour to promote The Best Damn Thing, with tickets available only to members of her fan club.[citation needed] She began the tour in Calgary, Alberta, and played for a crowd of around 200. This show was aired on television on April 2, 2007, on the CBC Network.
