Avril Lavigne

Avril Ramona Lavigne (/ˈævrɨl ləˈviːn/; AV-ril lə-VEEN; born 27 September 1984) is a Canadian and French[3][4][note 1] singer-songwriter. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, and spent most of her youth in the town of Napanee. By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million. In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go. Since her professional debut she has sold more than 30 million albums and over 50 million singles worldwide.[5]

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach number 1 in the UK. As of 2013, it has sold nearly 7 million copies in the United States[6] and over 17 million copies worldwide.[7] Her breakthrough single, “Complicated”, peaked at number 1 in many countries around the world, as did the album Let Go. Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in May 2004 and was her first album to peak at number 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide. The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007, becoming her third number 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number 1 single, “Girlfriend”. Lavigne has scored six number-one singles worldwide, including “Complicated”, “Sk8er Boi”, “I’m with You”, “My Happy Ending”, “Nobody’s Home”, and “Girlfriend”. Lavigne is one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 11 million copies certified by the RIAA. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released in March 2011. Goodbye Lullaby gave Lavigne her fourth top 10 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and her third number 1 album in both Japan and Australia. Three months after the release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne began work on her eponymous titled fifth studio album, which was released by Epic Records on 1 November 2013[8][9][10] following her departure from RCA Records.

Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes. She voiced a character in the animated film Over the Hedge in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation. In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, and in 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, which was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010 and her third perfume, Wild Rose, in 2011. In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together, with Whibley producing her fourth album, as well as Lavigne’s single, “Alice”, written for Tim Burton’s film Alice in Wonderland. Lavigne married Nickelback frontman Chad Kroeger, in 2013.

Avril Lavigne is the self-titled fifth studio album by Canadian singer Avril Lavigne, released on 1 November 2013 by Sony Music Entertainment. The album is a follow-up to her 2011 effort Goodbye Lullaby. Lavigne collaborated with numerous producers including Martin Johnson of Boys Like Girls, Peter Svensson, David Hodges, Matt Squire and her husband Chad Kroeger of Nickelback. In both musical and lyrical aspects, the album represents a departure from her previous production, including a more pop and upbeat sound, but not dropping her “bratty” or “immature” image, which was heavily criticized.

Avril Lavigne debuted at number 1 on the China Albums Chart Sino Chart, as well as the Taiwan International Albums Chart (G-Music), reaching the Top 10 in the US, Canada, Australia, Italy, Argentina, Japan, New Zealand, Russia, South Korea & Switzerland, while peaking in the top 20 in Germany, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Spain & the UK. The album has received Platinum certifications in Taiwan and Brazil, while also receiving Gold certifications in China, Japan, Canada & South Korea. Three of the album singles – “Here’s to Never Growing Up”, “Rock n Roll”, and “Let Me Go” – all charted within the Billboard Hot 100, with Here’s to Never Growing Up peaking inside the top 20. As of March 2014, the album has so far sold more than 700,000 copies worldwide, with 172,733 & 140,000 sold in Japan & the US, respectively.

1