Avril Lavigne

Avril Ramona Lavigne (born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian pop singer Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter and occasional actress who was originally known for her "skate punk" persona, but has since begun to shed that image in favour of a more sophisticated, feminine style. Her two albums, Let Go (2002) and Under My Skin (2004), topped the charts in several countries.

Although her surname is of French origin, she herself does not speak French and her name is pronounced in an anglicized way, somewhat as ("La-veen"), rather than ^*" target="_blank" >("Av-ril"), rather than [.

It was reported by several media outlets that Avril married boyfriend Deryck Whibley, the 26-year old lead singer of the Canadian punk-rock band Sum 41, on July 15, 2006 at a private estate in Montecito, California.

Biography

Early life

Born in Belleville, Ontario, to Franco-Ontarian Roman Catholic parents John and Judy Lavigne, Avril, at age five, moved with her family to Napanee, Ontario, Canada, where she sang in a church choir and taught herself to play the guitar.

She was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Avril was spotted by local folksinger Steve 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 followup album, My Window To You, in 2000.

At 16, she was signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire (A&R) representative of Arista Records, who invited his boss, Arista head Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear her sing in a New York City studio. She then completed work on her first album. She won a contest.

2002–2003

After early attempts to capture Lavigne's sound Arista A&R head Josh Saurbin reached out to successful producer-songwriters Curt Frasca and Sabelle Breer (Madonna, Ryan Cabrera, Stacie Orrico) to help with the album. Lavigne eventually moved to Los Angeles, California, and co-wrote with Cliff Magness and the songwriting team The Matrix, which has also worked with Sheena Easton and Christina Aguilera. She described her first album Let Go as an album with "a couple of rock songs on it", and has voiced a desire to write more rock-oriented songs in the future. It was released in June 2002 in the United States, reaching number two there and number one in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom (making Lavigne the youngest female soloist to have a number-one album in the UK until Joss Stone's 2004 album Mind, Body & Soul). The RIAA certified it four times platinum less than six months later, and it had sold fifteen million copies worldwide as of December 2004.

Four singles from the album were released, all of them number-one hits in Canada. "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. "Sk8er Boi" reached the top ten in the U.S. and Australia, "I'm with You" reached the top ten in the UK, and "Losing Grip" reached the top ten in Taiwan, and the top twenty in Chile. The media have often compared Lavigne to Alanis Morissette (one of her favourite artists alongside Coldplay and The Goo Goo Dolls), who is also Canadian, as well as singer-songwriters such as Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch, who emerged at about the same time and were popularly credited, with Lavigne, as part of a trend towards more creativity in the teen pop-music market.

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 eight Grammy Awards.

2004–present

Lavigne's second album Under My Skin was released in May 2004 in the U.S. It debuted at number one in the U.S., the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada, Spain, Ireland, Thailand, Korea and Hong Kong and sold more than 380,000 copies in U.S. in its first week. ^* 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 Marvelous 3, and the rest with her former lead guitarist Evan Taubenfeld. Kreviazuk's husband, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida, co-produced the album with Butch Walker and Don Gilmore.

Lead single "Don't Tell Me" went to number one in Argentina, top five in the UK and Canada, and top ten in Australia and Brazil. "My Happy Ending" reached the top ten in the U.S., and was her third-biggest hit to date there, but third single "Nobody's Home" did not make the top forty, though it reached the number one spot in Canada. The fourth single from the album, "He Wasn't" , became her eighth consecutive number-one release in Canada since her debut single, but failed to make the UK top twenty and was not released in the U.S.

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.^* Lavigne co-wrote "Breakaway", which was recorded by Kelly Clarkson for the soundtrack to the film Royal Engagement (2004) and was later included on Clarkson's second album Breakaway, being released as the album's first single. It peaked in the U.S. top ten and provided Clarkson with a substantial hit.

Lavigne made her film debut in the animated film Over the Hedge, which is based on the comic strip of same name, alongside William Shatner, Bruce Willis and Garry Shandling. She is also acting in the Richard Gere film The Flock, and her third project is Fast Food Nation, based on her favourite book. Her co-stars in the film include Patricia Arquette, Bobby Cannavale, Ethan Hawke and Greg Kinnear. [http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=18920

In January 2006 Lavigne signed a contract with Ford Models.She appeared in the February edition of Harpers Bazaar Fashion Magazine with a new look. Butch Walker.^*" target="_blank" >Lavigne performed at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics (Turin, Italy) for the eight minutes of the Vancouver 2010 portion.[http://www.sportsaustralia.com/articles/feb06/artid5017.html

Lavigne's band currently includes Devin Bronson (lead guitar), Craig Wood (rhythm guitar), Charlie Moniz (bass) and Matt Brann (drums). Former members include Evan Taubenfeld (lead guitar, 2002 – 2004), Mark Spicoluk (bass, 2002) and Jesse Colburn (rhythm guitar, 2002 – 2003). In 2003, it was reported that Lavigne was romantically involved with Colburn. Lavigne became engaged to be married to Deryck Whibley of the pop punk band Sum 41 during the summer of 2005 and the couple were married on July 15 2006. Mark Spicoluk was a former member of Deryck's band.

Image and personal life

Until 2003, Lavigne traveled with a bag full of about 30 neckties. Some of them she bought, and the rest of them she took from her father and some were sent to her by fanmail. Lavigne stopped wearing neckties completely in 2003, as she was horrified at the constant media references to them overshadowing her music and that she was starting a fashion trend amongst her fans.

She has a star tattooed on the inside of her left wrist. It was created at the same time as friend and musical associate Ben Moody's identical tattoo. In late 2004, she had a small pink heart-shaped tattoo featuring the letter 'D' applied to her right wrist — thought to be a reference to husband Deryck Whibley. She has also bought a house with him in Beverly Hills.

In March 2004, she became involved in a celebrity feud with Hilary Duff. Duff reportedly criticized Lavigne after the latter apparently got mad at her fans for dressing like her. Duff called her "mean-spirited" and said, "You should be happy that these people like you and look up to you." During an interview for a Boston radio station, Lavigne then said that Duff was a "mommy's girl" and a "goody two-shoes". She then said to Duff, who was not present during that interview, "You can go screw yourself." Reportedly, Lavigne also said about Duff, "I'm sure she's really nice and sweet. I'm sure she's all smiles." Lavigne has admitted to Rolling Stone that she got into some fights one night. "The other night, I got into three fights", says Lavigne. "I was at a club and some girl was giving me attitude. She pushed me and I got her down on the floor. Security came, and because I was on top, they threw me out." It would appear the feud has been put to rest, as on the MySpace page of DCMA Collective (A company owned by Duff's boyfriend, Joel Madden), there is a picture of Avril, Deryck, Joel & Hilary together.

In 2002, the top of Avril's buttocks was displayed out of her pants during a performance at the MuchMusic Video Awards (MMVA). During an interview at the following year's MMVA she lowered the back of her pants slightly, revealing the letters MMVA written at the top of her buttocks. [http://www.thegate.ca/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-619

A profile of Lavigne in The Washington Post suggests that her personality does not reflect her marketing, and instead found her to be something of a wide-eyed innocent, citing her intention to purchase her first Ramones CD. In another interview, she listed her current listening tastes as blink-182, Sum 41, Green Day, and System of a Down. In fact, she has done a few cover songs such as 'Basket Case' and 'American Idiot' for Green Day, as well as a few others. It has been speculated many times whether or not she is a vegetarian, but she has said many times that she is not. For example, in the January 2003 issue of Seventeen magazine, she admitted to "snagging a bite of Matt's cheeseburgers every now and again." It is the guys in her band that are true vegetarians, not her. In her Under My Skin Bonez Documentary, she has stated that pizza (with olive toppings) is her favorite food, although she doesn't eat it too much because supposedly pizza is not good for her voice.

This affinity for pizza coincides with the fact one of her favorite haunts as a teenager was to hang out at the La Pizzeria restaurant in Napanee, Ontario. Since her rise to fame, the restaurant has named a pizza after Avril that contains her favorite toppings and there is a guest book for fans to sign which is picked up by Avril when she visits friends and family in her home town. (see a Napanee Area blogger's interview with "La Pizzeria" owner Bill Kosmopoulos)

Some members of the old school, hardcore, or 'underground' punk community have an intense dislike for Lavigne and her style of music. They believe it waters down what punk is really all about. She has made comments showing a lack of knowledge and interest in the seventies punk movement and the luminaries of that movement. Lavigne once admitted to never having heard of the Sex Pistols This has led some to label her a poser. However, she has consistently stated that her music is not punk rock and that she does not believe she is punk. Except in Seventeen magazine she was stated as "I created Punk for this day and age. Do you see Britney walking around wearing ties and singing punk? Hell no. That's what I do. I'm like a Sid Vicious for a new generation." All Music Guide, as well as other reviewers consider her to be "teen pop" or "adult/alternative pop-rock". Although it's constantly debated whether or not she is punk, there have been several occasions where she has stated "I'm not punk."^*

In 2005, Lavigne revealed a newer cleaner image: sophisticated and classy. Once a "grungy" pop star, she showed her femininity in her new look, becoming the new face of Chanel in 2006. She signed as a model with the Ford modeling agency and appeared on the cover and in a feature article in Harper's Bazaar in February 2006.

In 2006 Avril was included in World's Most Beautiful People by People magazine. Some of Avril's fans on her official website have showed signs of frustration and a general dislike for her new 'feminine' appearance and style, favoring the "Old Avril" instead. They believe that by signing up for modeling in agencies such as Ford, by dying her hair blonde, and wearing more sexy attire in her photo shoots, she is becoming "superficial" or "fake". However, there have been just as many instances of supportive fans on her site, exclaiming that they support Lavigne's decisions on her tastes. Some fans choose, however, not to judge her by the way she chooses to live her personal life, but rather how it affects her overall music. And a totally different group encourages her simply to be herself and not let anybody's judgement influence her.^*

Lavigne has made it to the list of FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World for three consecutive years, from 2003 to 2005. She was also named on the Maxim magazine Hot 100 List in 2003, 2005, and 2006, at the 92nd, 36th and 35th spots, respectively. She is also featured in their Girls of Maxim gallery .

On July 15th, Lavigne married long-time boyfriend Deryck Whibley, the lead singer of Sum 41. The couple where married in a mostly traditional ceremony at a private estate in the California coastal city of Montecito, located 87 miles northwest of Los Angeles. Lavigne wore a Vera Wang gown, carried white roses and was walked down the aisle by her father. There were about 110 guests in attendance, and helicopters carrying photographers could be seen circling in the sky above the ceremony, which took place outside.[http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,203876,00.html

Discography

Albums

Year	Album	Chart positions	Worldwide sales
2002	Let Go	U.S.: #2, UK: #1, AUS: #1, Canada: #1	15 million
2004	Under My Skin	U.S.: #1, UK: #1, AUS: #1, Canada: #1 , Germany: #1	9 million

Singles

Year	Title	Album	U.S.	UK	AUS	World
2002	"Complicated"	Let Go	2	3	1	1
2002	"Sk8er Boi"	Let Go	10	8	3	8
2003	"I'm with You"	Let Go	4	7	—	6
2003	"Losing Grip"	Let Go	64	22	20	23
2003	"Mobile"	Let Go	—	—	—	—
2004	"Don't Tell Me"	Under My Skin	22	5	10	4
2004	"My Happy Ending"	Under My Skin	9	5	6	7
2004	"Nobody's Home"	Under My Skin	41	24	24	11
2005	"He Wasn't"	Under My Skin	—	23	25	—
2005	"Fall to Pieces"	Under My Skin	—	—	—	—

EPs

Year	Title
2003	Angus Drive
2004	Live Acoustic EP

Filmography

|| Voice || College activist || Cameo || Guest-star

Year	Film	Role
2006	The Flock
2006	Over the Hedge	Heather
2006	Fast Food Nation	Alice
2004	Going the Distance	Herself
2002	Sabrina the Teenage Witch	Herself

Awards and nominations

Awards and nominations for Avril Lavigne

References

E! Online Factsheet on Avril Lavigne
Thorley, Joe. Avril Lavigne The Unofficial Book, Virgin Books, 2003, pages 9-11.

External links

Gourt Home::Gourt :: Avril Lavigne