Avril Ramona Lavigne Whibley
[1] (born September 27, 1984), better known by her birth name Avril Lavigne
(), is a Canadian singer-songwriter, fashion designer, and actress. Lavigne has sold more than 30 million copies of her albums worldwide. [2] 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. [3] She has been dubbed as the 'pop-punk princess' by various sources. [4] [5] [6]
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".
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Early years
Avril Ramona Lavigne was born to a
French-born father, John, 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.
[7] She has an older brother, Matthew, and a younger sister, Michelle.
[8] 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.
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
.
Music career
In November 2000,
[a [9] 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.
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
.
[11]
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.
[12] 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.
[13] By May 2003,
Let Go
had accumulated over 1,000,000 sales in Canada, receiving a diamond certification from the
Canadian Recording Industry Association.
[14] As of 2009, the album has sold over 16 million worldwide.
[15] RIAA has certified the album six-time platinum, denoting shipments of over six million.
[16]
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. Subsequent singles "
Sk8er Boi" and "
I'm With You" reached the top ten in the United States.
[17] 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.
[18] [19] [20]
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".
[21]
Under My Skin
(2004–2005)
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
.
[22] "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.
[23] She also recorded the theme song for
The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie
.
[24]
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.
[25] 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 visit every single 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.
[26] "
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,
[27] 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.
[28]
thumb, 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.
[29] The song, which later appeared on the album, debuted on radio on November 20, 2006, and later released for digital download on November 28.
[30] [31]
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. "Girlfriend" was Lavigne's first single to have reached number one in Billboard,
[32] the single was a worldwide hit it also went to number one in Australia, Canada, Japan, Italy and number two in the UK and France. The
International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ranked "Girlfriend" as 2007's most-downloaded track worldwide, selling 7.3 million copies in eight different languages.
[b In December 2007, Lavigne, with annual earnings of $12 million, was ranked number eight in the
Forbes "Top 20 Earners Under 25".
[33]
"Girlfriend" rank at #27 of the Top 50 - Digital songs of All time as well the video in 2008 became the Most watched video in
Youtube over a year and was the first video ever in crossing more than 100,000,000 views on the site.
[34] "
When You're Gone" second single went to number three in the UK, top five in Australia and Italy, top ten in Canada and was very close to be top twenty in the United States, "
Hot" was the third single and has been Lavigne biggest fail in the U.S. charting only at number ninety five of Billboard, In Canada it made the top ten and in Australia the top twenty; The album has sold around 6 million worldwide.
During this era Lavigne won mostly every single award she was up to including two
World Music Awards for "World's Best-Selling Canadian Artist" and "World's Best Pop/Rock Female Artist" , she took her first two
MTV Europe Music Awards, received one
Teen Choice Awards for "Summer Single" and got nominated for five Juno Awards.
In March 2008, Lavigne undertook a world tour named "
The Best Damn Tour" to support the album. In mid August 2008,
Malaysia's Islamic opposition party, the
Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party, attempted to ban Lavigne's show in
Kuala Lumpur, judging her stage moves "too sexy". Her concert slated August 29 was deemed promoting wrong values ahead of Malaysia's independence day on August 31.
[35] On August 21, 2008, MTV reported that the concert had been approved by the Malaysian government.
[36]
Fourth Studio Album
(2009–Present)
Lavigne is currently working on her fourth studio album which is scheduled for release on
November 17 2009.
[37] Eight songs, four of which Lavigne had written as a teenager, had been recorded as of August 1.
[38] Tracks on the forthcoming album include: "Everybody Hurts", "Black Star", "Fine" and "Darlin’", which was the second song Lavigne ever wrote as a 15-year-old living in
Napanee,
Ontario. Lavigne has been working with husband
Deryck Whibley and
Butch Walker.
[39]
Film career
thumb premiere of
Over The Hedge
, April 30, 2006.
Lavigne made a cameo in the film
Going the Distance
and also appeared in an episode of
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
, performing "Sk8er Boi" with her band. Lavigne made her film debut in the 2006
animated film Over the Hedge
, which is based on the
comic strip of same name. She voices the character Heather, a
Virginia Opossum. In August 2006,
Canadian Business
magazine ranked her the seventh top Canadian actor dominating in
Hollywood in their second-annual ranking Celebrity Power List. She is ranked second with the most web hits, and sixth in TV mentions.
[40]
Lavigne acted in the
Richard Gere film
The Flock
,
[41] as the girlfriend of a crime suspect. Lavigne appears in the film
Fast Food Nation
, which is based on her favorite book,
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal
.
The British publication
The London Paper
reported that she recently landed a lead role in an upcoming film. Lavigne revealed, "I've got a film role coming up — something you wouldn't expect from me, something deep and dark."
[42]
Other works
Entrepreneurship
thumb
Aside from musical and film career, Lavigne ventured into entrepreneurship. Lavigne launched the clothing line
Abbey Dawn in July 2008, featuring back-to-school collection.
It is produced by
Kohl's, which is the brand's exclusive US retailer.
[43] [44] Named after Lavigne's childhood nickname, Abbey, used as an alias when she started her recording career, Lavigne designs for the company and concepts emanate from her.
Kohl's describe Abbey Dawn as a "juniors lifestyle brand",
which includes apparel and jewelry with skull and zebra patterns similar to the artwork featured on
The Best Damn Thing
.
[45] Lavigne wore some of the clothes in her line at various concerts before the launch. The designs were also featured on the internet game
Stardoll, where figures can be dressed up as Avril Lavigne.
[46]
Lavigne will be releasing her first fragrance called Black Star, created by
Procter & Gamble Prestige Products. The fragrance was announced via Lavigne's official website on March 7, 2009. Black Star, which contains notes of pink hibiscus, black plum and dark chocolate, will be released in summer 2009 in Europe, and later in America and Canada.
[47] [48] It's expected to generate $50 million in sales.
[49]
Philanthropy
Lavigne has been involved in a number of charitable activities, such as
Make Some Noise, Amnesty International, Erase MS, AmericanCPR.org, Camp Will-a-Way, Music Clearing Minefields,
U.S. Campaign for Burma,
Make-a-Wish Foundation and
War Child. She has also appeared in
ALDO ads with YouthAIDS to raise money to educate people worldwide about HIV/AIDS. Lavigne took part of the Unite Against Aids concert presented by ALDO in support of Unicef on November 28 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec Canada.
[50]
Lavigne worked with
Reverb, a non-profit
environmental organization, for her 2005 east coast tour.
[51] She covered '
Knockin' on Heaven's Door' for
War Child's
Peace Songs
compilation. Lavigne recorded a cover of the
John Lennon song "
Imagine" as her contribution to the compilation album
Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur
. Released on June 12, 2007, the album was produced to benefit
Amnesty International's campaign to alleviate the
crisis in Darfur.
[52]
Personal life
thumb, frontman to the band
Sum 41, on July 15, 2006.
In the January 2003 issue of
Seventeen
magazine, she admitted to "snagging a bite of
Matt's cheeseburgers every now and again." She said also she prefers not to eat meat, but will not say she's a
vegetarian "in case anyone caught her eating meat".
[53]
Lavigne has a star
tattooed on the inside of her left wrist that matches the style of the one used for her first album artwork. It was created at the same time as friend and musical associate
Ben Moody's identical tattoo.
[54] In late 2004, she had a small pink heart-shaped tattoo featuring the letter 'D' applied to her right wrist, which represents her now husband
Deryck Whibley,
[55] a fellow Canadian singer who is the lead singer/guitarist of
punk band
Sum 41. They began dating in February 2004 and on June 27, 2005, Lavigne and Whibley became engaged.
Whibley proposed to Lavigne by surprising her with a trip to
Venice, a gondola ride, and then a romantic picnic.
[56]
The couple married in a
Catholic ceremony attended by about 110 guests on July 15, 2006 at a private estate in
Montecito, California.
[57] When asked if they were ready for kids the couple said "not right now but somewhere down the road."
[58] [59]
Lavigne said in a 2004 interview that her favorite party song was
Hey Ya
, by
Outkast. She likes listening to
Third Eye Blind,
Oasis,
Marilyn Manson,
System of a Down and
Blink-182, and loves especially the track
I Miss You
. Asked what she would put on a
mix tape to a boy she liked, she answered: "
Iris
, by
Goo Goo Dolls. I'd put a few
Coldplay and Oasis songs.
Radiohead -
The Bends
is one of my favorite albums".
[60]
Musical style and public image
In Lavigne's official MySpace page, she affirms that her music genre includes
pop,
rock, and the sub-genre
punk rock.
[61] According to
Allmusic, her styles encompass
adult alternative,
pop rock,
pop punk,
post-grunge and
teen pop.
[62] According to
MusicMight she is
alternative rock,
alternative pop,
pop punk,
pop rock and
post-grunge.
[63] [64] In fact she is considered as a
pop punk,
pop rock and
alternative rock musician.
Lavigne had been featured in a
comic series
Avril Lavigne's Make 5 Wishes
. She stars as herself, a rock star who is idolized by the protagonist of the story.
[65]
Controversy
On May 25, 2007, songwriters James Gangwer and Tommy Dunbar sued Lavigne, her co-songwriter
Lukasz Gottwald, Almo Music, and RCA Records, claiming that "Girlfriend" contains lyrics plagiarized from their song "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend", originally performed by
The Rubinoos and released by
Beserkley Records in 1978.
[66] [67] In January 2008, following a confidential settlement, Dunbar and Gangwer said in a statement that they "are satisfied that any similarities between the two songs resulted from Avril and Luke's use of certain common and widely used lyrics". They completely exonerated Lavigne and Luke "from any wrongdoing of any kind in connection with the claims made by us in our lawsuit".
[68]
In June 2007, Canadian singer-songwriter
Chantal Kreviazuk, with whom Lavigne co-wrote the majority of her second album,
Under My Skin
, spoke to
Performing Songwriter
magazine about Lavigne's songwriting ability and ethics. Kreviazuk claimed that the song "Contagious", which appears on
The Best Damn Thing
, was based on a track she had sent to Lavigne in 2005.
[69] [70] On July 6, 2007, Lavigne denied both accusations in an open letter on her website, admitting that she had "never heard the [Rubinoos] song in [her] life" and also threatening legal action against Kreviazuk for her allegations, which she considers "damaging" to her reputation and a "clear defamation" of her character.
On July 10, Kreviazuk made a full public apology and retracted the statements made in the aforementioned interview, admitting she had not heard the song in question before making the comments, but rather made the accusation after noticing a song of the same name on the track listing.
[72] She said that Lavigne "is an accomplished songwriter and it has been my privilege to work with her".
Kreviazuk and Lavigne share the same manager under Nettwerk Management.
[73]
Backing band
;Current members
- Al Berry — bass guitar, backing vocals (2007 – present)
- Rodney Howard — drums, percussion, backing vocals (2007 – present)
- Steve Ferlazzo — electronic keyboard, backing vocals (2007 – present)
- Jim McGorman — rhythm guitar, backing vocals (2007 – present)
- Steve Fekete — lead guitar, backing vocals (2008 – present)
- Sofia Toufa — backing vocals, dancer (2007 – present)
- Lindsay Bluafarb — backing vocals, dancer (2007 – present)
|
;Past members
- Mark Spicoluk — bass guitar, backing vocals (April 2002 – September 2002)
- Jesse Colburn — rhythm guitar (2002 – January 2004)
- Evan Taubenfeld — lead guitar, backing vocals (2002 – September 2004)
- Craig Wood — rhythm guitar, backing vocals, vocals on Song 2 (2004 – January 2007)
- Matt Brann — drums, percussion, vocals on Song 2 (2002 – February 2007)
- Charlie Moniz — bass guitar (2002 – February 2007)
- Devin Bronson — lead guitar, backing vocals (2004 – 2008)
|
Discography
;
Studio albums
- 2002: Let Go
- 2004: Under My Skin
- 2007: The Best Damn Thing
- 2009: Fourth studio album
;
DVDs
- 2003: My World
- 2005: Live at Budokan
- 2008: Live in Toronto
;
Tours
- 2003: Try To Shut Me Up Tour
- 2004/2005: Bonez Tour
/ Mall Tour
- 2007: Promotional Tour
- 2008 The Best Damn Tour
Filmography
| Year
| Title
| Role
| Notes
|
| 2002
| Sabrina, the Teenage Witch
| Herself
| Television episode (Bada-Ping!) Guest-star; performed "Sk8er Boi"
|
| 2004
| Going the Distance
| Herself
| Cameo; performed "Losing Grip"
|
| Saturday Live
| Herself
| performed
|
| Madtv
| Herself
| Cameo; performed
|
| 2006
| Fast Food Nation
| Alice
| College activist
|
| Over the Hedge
| Heather
| Voice
|
| 2007
| The Flock
| Beatrice Bell
| Suspect's Girlfriend
|
Notes
- [a] ^
Lavigne was signed to Arista Records in November 2000, according to MTV. An article in Rolling Stone
magazine claimed it was on December 2001.
- [b] ^
"Girlfriend" was rerecorded in eight different languages including Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese, and Mandarin [74]
References
- Avril Lavigne: The punk who became a princess
- Kohl’s Partners with Rocker Avril Lavigne for New Juniors’ Lifestyle Brand to Launch July 2008
- Top Selling Artists
- [1]
- [1]
- [1]
- Avril Lavigne: the unofficial book
- Inside Her Life: The Middle Child
- Avril Lavigne: The Real Deal
- Avril Lavigne The Anti-Britney
- Little Miss Can't Be Wrong
- Avril Lavigne
- E = 2K2
- Avril Lavigne presented with Diamond
- Avril Lavigne Ends North American Run of Shows with Two Dates In Washington Beginning May 9
- Gold and Platinum
- Artist Chart History - Avril Lavigne
- Avril Lavigne
- Avril Nabs Four Juno Awards
- Let the Music Play: 2003 Grammy Nominees Announced
- Avril lavigne - basket case
- Avril Lavigne Helps Kelly Clarkson Become A Pop 'Princess'
- Beyonce Makes Fashionable Splash
- Avril Lavigne Gives Squishy SpongeBob Song A Harder Edge
- Avril "Skins" Usher
- Avril Lavigne Biography
- Usher, Hilary Duff, SpongeBob Take Home Orange Blimps From Kids' Choice Awards
- Winter Olympics end with glittering closing ceremony
- Hey guys
- "Keep Holding On" now playing at radio!
- "Keep Holding On" now on iTunes
- Lavigne Sweeps Charts As 'Girlfriend' Tops Hot 100
- 20 Under 25: The Top-Earning Young Superstars
- Most Watched Videos Of All Time
- Avril Lavigne Faces Possible Ban In Malaysia For Being 'Too Sexy'
- Avril Lavigne's Malaysia Concert Is Back On, Singer Says -- 'Too Sexy' Or Not
- Avril Lavigne in the studio: An EW exclusive!
- Avril Lavigne goes acoustic on new album
- Avril Lavigne Strips Down Sound for Introspective November LP
- Power players: Canada's top actors
- Avril Lands A Role In Richard Gere Crime Drama 'The Flock'
- Avril moves into movies
- OK! Interview: Avril Lavigne
- Avril Lavigne Launches Abbey Dawn Clothing Line: 'It's Absolutely My Wardrobe'
- Avril Lavigne: Clothing Line is "Rock Glam"
- Word of Mouse: Creating a Musical Buzz Online
- Avril announces latest project.......!
- Avril Lavigne in London to promote new fragrance, Black Star
- Avril Lavigne All Bottled Up
- Unite Against Aids Concert
- Reverb Projects
- Make some noise to save Darfur
- Title Unavailable
- Avril Lavigne: No Looking Back
- Late Late Show
- Avril Lavigne engaged
- Avril Lavigne Weds
- Avril Lavigne weds her Sk8er Boi, Whibley
- Avril Lavigne Marries Sum 41 Frontman Deryck Whibley
- Q&A: Avril in Action
- MySpace.com - Avril Lavigne
- Avril Lavigne: Biography
- MusicMight: Avril Lavigne
- MusicMight: Avril Lavigne's person page
- Make 5 Wishes
- Apple sued for duping Apple TV image, hosting iTunes track
- Seventies Band Sues Lavigne Over 'Girlfriend'
- Songwriters 'Completely Exonerate' Avril Lavigne
- Next to ice hockey, Canada's greatest export may well be singer-songwriters
- Kreviazuk Retracts Lavigne Songwriting Comments
- Avril Lavigne Responds To Lawsuit, Says She's Been 'Falsely Accused'
- Title Unavailable
- Nettwerk Publishing
- Avril Goes Multilingual For 'Girlfriend,' But Does It Get Lost In Translation?