(1984-2000) Early Life
Avril was born in Belleville, Ontario , to Franco-Ontarian Roman Catholic parents John and Judy Lavigne. 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. At age five she moved with her family to Napanee , Ontario, Canada, where she sang in a church choir and taught herself to play the guitar. 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. She was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri , while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kigston , 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 follow up album, My Window To You, in 2000 . At the age of sixteen 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 in a New York City studio. She then completed work on her first album.
(2001-2003) Rise to superstardom ( Let Go )
After attempts to capture Lavigne's sound, Arista A&R head Josh Saurbin reached out to producer-songwriters Curt Frasca and Sabelle Breer ( Madonna , Ryan Cabrera , Stacie Orrico ) to help with the album [ citation needed ] . Lavigne eventually moved to Los Angeles, California and co-wrote with Cliff Magness and the songwriting team The Matrix . They have also worked with singers such as Sheena Easton and Christina Aguilera . Lavigne described her first release 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 [ citation needed ] . Let Go was released on 4 June 2002 in the United States, reaching number two 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 (17 yr old Joss Stone broke Avril's record in 2003). Just over one month after its release, "Let Go" was certified both Gold and Platinium and reached multi-Platinium status in late-August. and was three-time -Platinium two weeks after . Before the end of 2002 just six months after its debut, it was certified four times Platinum by the RIAA. 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. 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. Avril 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. " 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 twenty 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 eight Grammy Awards .
(2003-2005) Public acceptance ( Under My Skin )
Lavigne's second album Under My Skin was released on 25 May 2004 in the U.S. It debuted at number one in the U.S., the UK, Germany, Japan, Australia, Canada, Argentina, 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 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 (just like every single of their two records), 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 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 Favorite Female Singer at the eighteenth Annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice awards . 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). " 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.
(2005-present) Recent activities
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. 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 third album currently does not have a release date or a title, and it is being produced by Butch Walker and herself. On July 10, 2006, Avril Lavigne answered a Q&A on her official website stating that her next CD will be released in the first half of next year, 2007. Avril says that her new album will contain love songs since 'that's what I'm feeling at the moment' and that she is enjoying being able to write songs with Butch Walker. It is said on her message board on her official website that her new album will contain 15 songs. "Of course, I still have my boy-bashing songs, but they're very playful. So the record is really fun and cool and different and honestly, I think it's my best record yet. I can say that with confidence."
