Biography

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born on September 27, 1984, in Belleville, a small city in the eastern part of the province of Ontario, Canada. The second of three children, her father, John, was a technician for Bell Canada; mother Judy was a stay-at-home mom. When Lavigne was five, the family moved to Napanee, a farming town even smaller than Belleville with a total population of only five thousand. From the time she was a toddler Lavigne idolized her older brother, Matt, and insisted on trying to do anything he could do. As she explained to Chris Willman of Entertainment Weekly, “Ifhe played hockey, I had to play hockey. He played baseball, I wanted to.” In fact, when Lavigne was ten she played in the Napanee boy’s hockey league; she also became known as quite a baseball pitcher.

As she grew older Lavigne gained a reputation as a tomboy who preferred family outings like dirt biking or camping over dating. And in the tenth grade she discovered skateboarding, which became a particular passion. “I’m just not a girlie-girl,” Lavigne laughingly told Willman. When not playing sports, however, she did pursue another interest—singing. The Lavignes were devout Christians and attended Evangel Temple in Napanee, where young Avril sang in the choir beginning at age ten. Soon she branched out and began singing at all types of venues, including county fairs, hockey games, and company parties. She primarily sang covers of songs made popular by

“Why should I care what other people think of me? I am who I am. And who I wanna be.”

country singers Martina McBride and Faith Hill. Lavigne’s parents bought her a sound machine to sing along with, and she practiced in front of a mirror at home for hours.

In 1998, when she was fourteen years old, Lavigne’s first manager, Cliff Fabri, discovered her singing at a small performance in a local bookstore. When talking to Willman, Fabri described the young girl as a “frizzy-haired waif.” But he liked Lavigne’s voice, and he was especially impressed by her confident attitude. That same year, such confidence helped her win a contest to sing a duet with fellow Canadian Shania Twain at the jam-packed Corel Centre in Ottawa. Even though it was her first time performing in front of twenty thousand people, Lavigne was fearless. As she told Willman, “I thought, ‘This is what I’m going to do with my life.”‘

When she was sixteen, Fabri arranged for Lavigne to audition for L.A. Reid, head of Arista Records in New York City. After a fifteen-minute tryout Reid signed Lavigne to an amazing two-record, $1.25 million contract. The sixteen year old immediately dropped out of high school to devote herself to working on her first album. At first producers offered Lavigne new country tunes to sing, but after six months the team was unable to write any actual songs, and it became apparent that things were not clicking. Reid then sent the singer to Los Angeles to work with a team of producers and writers known as The Matrix. When Lavigne arrived in L.A. Matrix producer Lauren Christy asked Lavigne what style she had in mind. As Christy relayed to Chris Willman, Lavigne had responded, “I’m 16. I want to rock out.” That same day Lavigne and Matrix writers penned the first song for her album, “Complicated.”

Lavigne’s debut album, Let Go, was released on June 4, 2002, and within six weeks it had gone platinum, meaning over a million copies were sold. The single “Complicated,” which received a great deal of radio airplay, reached number one on the adult Billboard charts; “I’m With You” also reached number one on the adult charts; and the catchy pop tune “Sk8er Boi” was a top-requested video on MTV and made it in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100.

To promote the album Lavigne set out on a whirlwind publicity tour, making appearances on talk shows such as Late Night with David Letterman, and giving a series of concerts in Europe with her newly formed band, which was put together by her new management firm, Nettwerk. Most inexperienced singers are backed by seasoned musicians, but Nettwerk chose to go with young performers who were up and coming in the Canadian punk-rock scene. As Nettwerk manager Shauna Gold told Shanda Deziel of Maclean’s, “[Lavigne] is young, her music’s young, we needed a band that would fit well with who she is as a person.”

And, after being away from her small-town home in Canada, Lavignewas beginning to form her own personal style. Initially publicists tried to market her like other teen pop stars, but Lavigne rebelled. “IfI was made up by the record label,” she remarked to Lorraine Ali of Newsweek, “I’d have bleached-blonde hair and I’d probably be wearing a bra for a shirt.” Instead, the singer-songwriter opted for a skater-punk look, which consisted of cut-off plaid pants, steel-toed Doc Martens, and tank tops worn with neckties. According to Ali, the five-foot-one tomboy “spawned a prepubescent army of Lavignettes” who snatched up her records and faithfully copied her outfits.

By the end of 2002 Let Go had sold 4.9 million copies and was the second best-seller of the year just behind The Eminem Show. (By 2005 worldwide sales topped over fourteen million.) As 2003 progressed Lavigne continued to gather more fame and more accolades. She performed to sold-out crowds at her first North American concert tour; nabbed five Grammy nominations, including Song of the Year for “I’m With You”; and was named Best New Artist at the MTV Video Music Awards. In Canada Lavigne received six Juno nominations, winning four, including Best New Artist and Best Pop Album.

In the press Lavigne was deemed the leader of the pack of a new group of edgy, female singer-songwriters, which included Pink and Michelle Branch. She also endured being called the “anti-Britney,” referring to Britney Spears. In interviews Lavigne expressed her distaste for the label. “I don’t like that term,” she told Chris Willman. “It’s stupid. She’s a human being. God, leave her alone.” But, in the same interview radio programmer Tom Poleman explained to Willman that Lavigne’s popularity was partly thanks to her “anti-Britney” style. “Avril is much more the regular kid,” Poleman commented. “For boys, she seems more attainable; girls can see themselves living more like her, dressing the same, being attracted to the same boys.”

Despite her hectic schedule Lavigne returned to the studio in 2003 to record her second album, which she was determined to make her own way. Although Lavigne did write several of the songs on Let Go, she did so with the help of a slew of producers. This time she flew to Los Angeles to work privately with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk; she also co-wrote one song with guitarist Ben Moody of the band Evanescence. Lavigne’s record label, Arista, did not hear a single track until the newly independent singer was finished.

Lavigne’s second album, Under My Skin, was released on May 25, 2004, and debuted at number one on Billboard’s U.S. album chart. It also sparked several popular singles, including “Don’t Tell Me” and “My Happy Ending.” Critics were consistently kind in their reviews, with Chuck Arnold of People applauding Lavigne for her “artistic independence” and praising her “rebellious spirit, racing rhythms, and tough-talking lyrics.” Lorraine Ali pointed out that fans were seeing a more mature Lavigne, claiming her new songs “are rougher and darker” and her voice had lost some of its “girly high pitch.” One song, in particular, received a good deal of attention—the emotional ballad “Slipped Away,” which Lavigne wrote about the death of her grandfather.

In June 2005 Avril Lavigne became engaged to her boyfriend of a year, Deryck Whibley (1980–), the lead singer of Canadian punk-pop group called Sum 41, whose members are known for their quick, catchy rock tunes and their highly energized live performances.

The wedding was held on 15 July 2006. About 110 guests attended the wedding, which was held at a private estate in Montecito, California. Lavigne, wearing a gown designed by Vera Wang walked down the aisle with her father, Jean-Claude, to Mendelssohn’s “Wedding March”. Lavigne chose a colour theme of red and white, including red rose petals and centerpieces of distinctly coloured flowers. The wedding included cocktails for an hour before the reception and a sit-down dinner. The song “Iris”, by the Goo Goo Dolls, was played during Lavigne and Whibley’s first dance.

The marriage lasted a little more than three years. It was announced on 17 September 2009 that Lavigne and Whibley had split up and that divorce papers would soon follow. On 9 October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce, releasing the statement, “I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship.” The divorce was finalized on 16 November 2010, officially ending the marriage.