Avril Lavigne: biography of her early years
She was born on September 27, 1984 in Canada in the city of Belleville in the family of Jean-Claude Joseph and Judith-Roseanne Lavigne. She spent most of her childhood in Napanee. She has a sister, Michelle, and a brother, Matthew. Much to their chagrin, Avril Lavigne (photo shown later in the article) sang all the time as a child. She was raised by deeply religious parents and first began performing in a church choir. At the age of 12, Avril learned to play the guitar and began composing her own music. Her father supported her: he bought her a microphone, drums, a piano and several guitars, and put the basement at her disposal.
At first, Avril focused on country music, and over time she changed her style. At the age of 14, she began performing karaoke and won a competition, performing a duet with Shania Twain in front of an audience of 20,000. At the age of 16, leaving high school with the consent of her parents, she and her brother went to New York and then to Los Angeles to collaborate with Arista Records.
Biography
Born 09/27/1984, Belleville, Ontario, Canada
Canadian singer, actress, perfumer, designer
Childhood, youth
Avril Lavigne was born on September 27, 1984 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, to French-Canadian Baptist parents John and Judy Lavigne. In the town of Napanee, where the girl lived from the age of five, she sang in the church choir, learned to play the guitar with the help of her father John Lavin, and simply sang in country style. Slowly, Avril gained some fame at home.
Carier start
The first step onto the ladder of big show business was Avril Lavigne’s victory in a competition on local radio. For her victory, the talented girl received the opportunity to travel to Ottawa and record a duet with country diva Shania Twain. At that time, Avril was only thirteen years old, and at her age she was already writing her own songs and playing the guitar.
While in her final years of school, Avril sent videotapes of her concert recordings to several music companies in North America. During a performance at the Lennox Community Theater, local country singer-songwriter Steve Mead invited Avril Lavigne to sing on the song "Touch the Sky" for his 1999 album Quinte Spirit. Impressed by the talent of the young singer, Steve Med again invited Avril to perform the songs “Temple of Life” and “Two Rivers” for his next album, 2000, “My Window to You.”
Music career
Arista Records representative Ken Krongard advised his boss Antonio Reed to listen to sixteen-year-old Avril Lavigne in a studio in New York. However, the songs written for her did not arouse Avril's approval, and she left for Los Angeles, where she began recording her first album entitled “Let Go” with Cliff Magness and. The album turned out to be successful, it reached number two in the US, number one in Australia, Canada, and the UK, received four times platinum status, and sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Avril Lavigne's older brother and younger sister, Matthew and Michelle, took part in the video clip based on the song "Sk8er Boi" of the same name.
In 2002, Avril Lavigne won Best Discovery at the MTV Video Music Awards, won four Juno Awards nominations in 2003, earned World's Best-Selling Canadian Singer at the World Music Awards, and was nominated eight Grammy Awards. On May 25, 2004, Avril's second album, Under My Skin, was released, which topped the charts in several countries, including the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. The singer wrote most of the songs for this album herself.
In the same year, Avril Lavigne won two categories at the World Music Awards - World's Best Pop/Rock Artist and World's Best Selling Canadian Artist. She received five Juno Award nominations in 2005, but earned three of them as Fan Choice Award, Artist of the Year and Pop Album of the Year. Avril Lavigne was named "Favorite Female Singer" at the eighteenth annual Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards. In January 2006, Avril Lavigne signed a contract with the Ford Models modeling agency, and in February of the following year she already appeared in the February edition of Harpers Bazaar. Avril performed for eight minutes at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics.
On April 17, 2007, fans of Avril Lavigne heard her third album, “The Best Damn Thing.” Avril Lavigne's debut single "Girlfriend" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time in her career. In the summer of 2007, the famous singer released her second single “When You're Gone”, the third single was the song “Hot”, the fourth single, also named the same as the album “The Best Damn Thing”, was released a little later. On January 27, 2010, the song "Alice", recorded as a soundtrack for the film "Alice in Wonderland", was published on Avril Lavigne's official website. And in February of the same year, a video clip of the same name was released.
Film career
Avril Lavigne is one of the most prominent representatives of country music's artistic excellence. Avril's creative talent and versatility allowed her to create not only on stage, but also in films. In 2002, the famous singer, but an aspiring actress, took part in the American family series - the situational comedy by Nell Scovell “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”, where Lavigne acted as a guest star and performed “Sk8er Boi”.
The film was based on the Archie Comics comics of the same name. The set with Avril Lavigne was shared by the following actors: Melissa Joan Hart, Caroline Rea, Beth Broderick, Nick Bakay. It was a situational comedy about a young witch named Sabrina who lived with her aunts Hilda and Zelda. One day she found out that she, like all her relatives, was a witch with magical powers. Each episode was based on the fact that Sabrina used magic for selfish purposes and thereby found herself in a situation that was uncomfortable for her, but comical for the viewer. At the end of each episode, Sabrina learned a moral lesson from everything that happened.
Having received favorable reviews from critics for her film debut, Avril Lavigne decided to seriously pursue an acting career. In 2004, she appeared in a cameo role in the films: “Hold on to the end,” where she sang “Losing Grip”; "Saturday Night Live"; MADtv.
In 2008, director Richard Linklater invited Avril Lavigne to play the supporting role of Ellis Activist in the drama Fast Food Nation, based on the book of the same name by American journalist Eric Schlosser. The main roles were played by famous actors: Greg Kinnear and Wilmer Valderrama. The film's storylines revolved around a schoolgirl named Amber, who worked part-time in a fast food restaurant, as well as a group of young anti-globalization activists, and illegal immigrants from Mexico who were subjected to labor exploitation in a meat processing plant.
In 2006, the cartoon “Forest Brothers” was released, which was Avril Lavigne’s debut in voice acting; the actress worked with William Shatner, Bruce Willis and Gary Shandling.
In 2007, Avril Lavigne took part in the filming of the thriller directed by Andrew Lau, “The Flock,” this time the actress played the role of Beatrice Bell, the suspect’s girlfriend. The audience will forever remember the talented performances of famous actors: Richard Gere and Claire Danes.
Besides
Avril Lavigne conquered not only the music and film worlds, but also in 2008 released her clothing line called “Abbey Dawn”. The Punk Princess gave her this name because her father called her "Abbey" as a child. Avril herself loves to wear tights under long T-shirts and ripped jeans. This style of clothing is also present in her Abbey Dawn line.
In August 2009, Avril Lavigne released a perfume called “Black Star” - her first experience in the field of perfumery was successful. The aroma of “Black Star” is a light chocolate scent with floral and fruity notes of pink hibuscus and black plum. The 24-year-old singer also added her own style to the packaging design.
Personal life
“Everything but ordinary,” is how the singer’s biography in the press often begins; the authors use a hint from Avril Lavigne herself from the song “Anything But Ordinary.” Lavigne's music has always had little to do with 1970s punk rock, although the singer has claimed to be influenced by many older punk bands and artists.
Personal life, like the singer’s career, was at its best. In 2006, Avril Lavigne married the 30-year-old frontman of the Canadian punk band Sum 41, Derick Whibley. And at the end of 2004, the famous singer made a small tattoo on her right wrist - a heart with the letter “D” - as a sign of love for Derick. And Derick himself, at the beginning of the same year, put a silver ring on the ring finger of his right hand, which gave rise to a wave of rumors about the wedding that had already taken place. Their engagement took place in Venice in June 2005, just at that time the singer’s European tour took place. In September 2009, Avril Lavigne and Derrick Whibley announced their divorce, while remaining on good terms.
Interesting Facts
Avril Lavigne's family is of French-Canadian descent; in French her name was pronounced as Avril - April, Lavigne - vineyard, in English - Avril Lavigne.
Avril Lavigne loves red and black.
Avril Lavigne never uses deodorant because she heard that it causes breast cancer. Therefore, she had to “smell her armpits and spray them with eau de toilette” all the time.
Avril Lavigne once ate a cockroach as a bet. During the filming of the next video, the director caught a cockroach and offered the singer to eat it. “Only for $100,” was the singer’s answer. The director didn’t believe it, but Avril ate it. The director was in such shock that at first he didn’t even want to give up the money he had lost.
Avril Lavigne, out of principle, does not wear high heels or miniskirts. And, of course, she skateboards and loves hunting.
Avril Lavigne recently appeared in her video wearing an old sports jacket left over from her school days, thereby enriching her unloved school, which was suddenly inundated with orders for sewing this item.
Avril Lavigne loves to play hockey in the winter and baseball in the summer.
Avril Lavigne does a lot of things that could be considered rebellious, but that doesn't mean the singer snorts cocaine.
After a newspaper announced that a new pop princess had appeared on the scene, Avril Lavigne was “ready to kill someone.” Avril Lavigne hates the chic and glamor of the life of "fuckin" pop stars.
Avril Lavigne is most often compared to Alanis Morissette. Avril Lavigne herself does not like this comparison.
As a child, Avril Lavigne dreamed of becoming a police officer, but she realized in time that it was better to rock on stage.
In 2008, she released a signature guitar “Avril Lavigne Telecaster” under the budget brand “Squier”, “Artist” series. The body of the rare guitar is made of American basswood, the fingerboard is made of rosewood, and the pickguard is made of three-layer plastic with a black and white checkered pattern.
Author – CAROLINA.
Sources of information: Avril Lavigne, article, People's History website. “Avril Lavigne”, article, Wikipedia website. “New interview with Avril for OK!” magazine, article, Novosti website, August 2009. “Avril Lavigne”, article, Avril Ru Team, website “Avril.ru”, March 2007. “Either an Avalanche, or an Emergency...,” article, website “Komok”.
First steps
Avril Lavigne's professional musical biography began when she was 17 years old. She emerged on stage as a spunky pop-punk chick who refused to captivate audiences with her body, preferring to use her powerful voice, energetic melodies and straightforward lyrics to do so. Unwavering loyalty to herself and the principle of always putting music first, not appearance, paid off the efforts of a little girl from Napanee. Both critically and commercially successful.
In 2002, the 6-times platinum Let Go album launched Lavigne into international pop stardom. This was followed by the triple platinum Under My Skin in 2004, the platinum The Best Damn Thing in 2007 and the 2011 disc Goodbye Lullaby, which sold more than 2 million copies worldwide. Over the course of her decades-long career, Lavigne has released a number of international singles, traveled the globe on numerous world tours, been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards and was awarded a Canadian Juno Award.
Star Trek singer and actress
After graduating from high school and moving to Los Angeles, Avril begins working on her debut album with Cliff Magness and The Matrix. The album Let go, certified four times platinum, gave young Lavigne long-awaited popularity and fame. The success was stunning. Until December 2004, about fifteen million discs were sold worldwide.
The subsequent albums Under my skin and The Best Damn Thing were in no way inferior to the first and for a long time topped the charts in different countries. Avril worked without breaks, went on world tours, and in 2011 she made her fans happy with the album Goodbye Lullaby. Soon after its release, the singer announced that she was already working on her fifth album, but it was released only in 2013. Avril named him by her name - Avril Lavigne. Avril Lavigne's awards and honors only highlight the singer's success.
In 2002, Avril Lavigne received the title of "Best Discovery" at the MTV Video Music Awards. In 2003, the star won in four out of six categories at the Juno Awards. In the same year, Avril received the title of World's Best-Selling Canadian Singer at the World Music Award and was nominated for eight Grammy Awards.
But it’s not Avril Lavigne’s rule to stop there. In addition to music, the singer has several episodic roles in films, has participated in dubbing cartoons, and has also created her own clothing line called Abbey Dawn. She also managed to try her hand at perfumery: in 2009, her fragrance called Black Star was released, and a little later the perfume Forbidden Rose appeared.
Dizzying success
A self-taught musician who plays guitar, piano and drums and writes every song herself, Avril Lavigne sang and performed for several years before releasing Let Go, which included popular singles such as Complicated and Sk8r Boi, which sold out – more than 16 million copies. The follow-up album, 2004's Under My Skin, debuted at number one on the Billboard Top 200.
The second disc in the biography of Avril Lavigne was characterized by reviews from some listeners (for example, on the Allmusic website) as “clumsy.” But, nevertheless, it sold more than 8 million copies worldwide thanks to the singles Do Not Tell Me and My Happy Ending. 4 years later The Best Damn Thing appeared with the #1 hit Girlfriend. This is the rock singer's best recording to date, and became the best digital track of 2007, downloaded more than 7.3 million times. Here's To Never Growing Up, the first single from Avril Lavigne's new album of the same name, released in April 2013, debuted at number one in 22 countries and was a top 10 single in 44. In total, the rock singer received 221 awards and was nominated 301 times.
Biography and musical career
The full name of the Canadian singer is Avril Ramona Lavigne.
She was born in the small provincial town of Belleville in 1984. From early childhood, she dreamed of writing music, singing and becoming famous throughout the world thanks to her creativity. The parents fully supported their daughter and met her halfway, buying her musical instruments and going to karaoke with her. She wrote her first full-length composition in her teens. At the age of 14, Lavigne won a local radio competition. Then she publicly announced that she was going to become a world famous performer. Such openness and unsurpassed talent of the girl captivated many professionals in the music industry. She began to be offered collaborations and the services of producers. Already in 2000, she signed a contract for a million dollars. Avril dropped out of school and devoted herself entirely to music and her flashy image.
A couple of years later, Avril Lavigne revealed her debut album to the world. It quickly became the best-selling music album of the year. Songs from it were for a long time on the first lines in the tops of Canada, England, USA, Australia and other countries. Everyone admired the young performer and awarded her victories in various prestigious awards, because it is rare for an artist to become so popular after his first album.
In 2004, the singer went on a big two-year tour, during which she sang new tracks from her second album along with her guitarist. New tracks again brought Lavigne multimillion-dollar fees and awards. In 2007, the song “Girlfriend” from the third collection was released, which began to be downloaded by millions in the first weeks. Avril Lavigne re-recorded the song in 7 more languages. It is noteworthy that the song contains obscene language, but Avril Lavigne recorded this excerpt with different words specifically for the radio version.
Already from her 3rd album, the popularity of the Canadian singer began to slowly fade away. Songs began to make it to the top much less often, and the albums themselves began to sell worse. The fourth collection was published in 2011, and the fifth in 2013. In 2020, Avril announced that she was already working on her 6th album, but she was diagnosed with Lyme disease, so the release of the new collection was delayed. In 2020, the singer announced on social networks that she was ready to work again.
Co-authorship and film work
In addition, Lavigne has co-written songs written for other artists such as Kelly Clarkson's hit Breakaway, as well as tracks for Demi Lovato and Leona Lewis. Her compositions have graced the soundtracks for such feature films as Eragon, Sweet Home Alabama, Bruce Almighty, Legally Blonde 2, The Princess Diaries 2, For the Boys like" (The House Bunny) and "Alice in Wonderland". In addition, she voiced Heather in the animated film “Woodland” (2006) and starred in the films “Fast Food Nation” (2006), “The Shepherd” (2007), “Hold on to the End” (2004).
Sabrina, the Teenage Witch (2002) was the first experience of filming in the biography of Avril Lavigne (in Russian the series is known as “Sabrina the Teenage Witch”). In 2010, she wrote the composition “Alice” for Tim Burton’s fantasy film, which was included in the Almost Alice collection. In addition, her best-selling fashion and lifestyle brand, Abbey Dawn, created Alice in Wonderland costumes that were sold in stores in conjunction with the film's release.
Business and charity
Thanks to Abbey Dawn, Lavigne became an insanely successful entrepreneur. The brand sells youth collections of clothing and accessories inspired by her life, music and travels around the world; as well as 3 fragrances: Black Star, Forbidden Rose and Wild Rose. Over the years, she has designed special accessories and donated to the Avril Lavigne Foundation, which works in partnership with charities such as Easter Seals, Erase MS and Make-A-Wish. In addition, she participated in the ALDO campaign to raise funds for AIDS awareness. To date, the Avril Lavigne Foundation has raised more than half a million US dollars to support children and youth living with serious illnesses or disabilities through awareness initiatives and grants.
Latest album
Even though business and philanthropy take up a lot of her time, music still comes first for the rock singer. In November 2013, the 5th album in the biography of Avril Lavigne appeared, entitled Avril Lavigne. On it she worked with new collaborators (Chad Kroeger and David Hodges, with whom she wrote 8 songs, as well as Martin Johnson, J. Cash, Matt Squire and others), experimenting with a wide range of sounds: from nostalgic carefree pop music (Here's To Never Grow Up Up, Bitchin' Summer, 17) to brash rock (Rock N Roll, Bad Girl featuring Marilyn Manson) and from swaggering dubstep (Hello Kitty) to her signature ballads - "Hush Hush" and "Let Me Go" in a duet with Nickelback's Kroeger, whom she married in July 2013.
Personal life
In 2005, the singer got married for the first time. The chosen one was punk singer Derick Whibley. Three years later, the couple broke up, but everything went without scandals. Lavigne has publicly stated that she is grateful to her ex-husband for all this time, and that they will remain friends.
In 2013, the performer decided to get married again: Chad Kroeger, a musician, became her new couple. Unfortunately, just two years later the couple announced their separation, but after the singer’s recovery they began to be seen together again.
In 2014, the young performer was given a terrible diagnosis - Lyme disease, which appears due to a tick bite. A couple of years later, Avril Lavigne reported that she was already on the mend, and in 2018 she again began appearing at celebrity events. Currently, the singer devotes most of her free time to her health: she does yoga, surfing, eats right and has been a vegetarian for many years.
Biography of Avril Lavigne: personal life
After three years of marriage, Lavigne and first husband Derick Whibley divorced in 2009. She then dated model and reality TV star Brody Jenner from February 2010 to January 2012.
In August 2012, Lavigne began collaborating with musician Chad Kroeger, frontman of the rock band Nickelback. They were introduced by her manager, who thought they would make a good team. During the process of creating the album, Avril and Chad fell in love with each other. According to Lavigne, the idea of collaborating with Chad seemed like a good idea to her because she thought it would be nice to write songs with another artist. “He knows what it means to sell a song to a large crowd of listeners. He's a guitarist. He's a rock star. He's going through what I'm going through. We are both from Canada. It makes sense to put two people who live similar lives in the same room. We first met in the studio. We became close through music. It was Chad, me and Dave Hodges in the studio. We called ourselves a tripod. That's how the recording started." Lavigne had just finished a world tour and her job was to go to the studio every day with these guys. They put on top hats, smoked cigarettes, ordered pizza, lay on the floor, wrote songs every day and just laughed heartily. And Chad was the funniest of all.
Lavigne and Kroeger dated in February 2012 and got married in July 2013 in a ceremony held in the south of France. But a year later, on September 2, 2020, she announced that they had separated.
Avril Lavigne's biography has been overshadowed in recent years by her struggle with Lyme disease. She told People magazine in April 2020. According to her, she was bedridden for 5 months. That June, Lavigne shared more information in her first television interview since her diagnosis. She explained that she was examined by numerous doctors before receiving the help she needed. Lavigne told ABC News she is halfway there and expects a 100 percent recovery.
Report of illness
In early 2020, Lavigne released “Fly,” an inspirational ballad written for the Special Olympics, an event for athletes with intellectual disabilities. That same month, the singer also revealed that she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease. “I was bedridden for five months,” she said. More information about the disease in Avril Lavigne's biography appeared in her first television interview after announcing her diagnosis. She explained that she visited numerous doctors before getting the help she needed. Lavigne told ABC News she is halfway through her treatment and expects to make a 100 percent recovery.
Over the next few years, while the singer was undergoing treatment, Avril Lavigne's biography remained out of public view. Three years later, in 2020, she returned with the single "Head Above Water", which was inspired by her battle with Lyme disease. The composition unexpectedly made it into the top 10 of Christian radio. The accompanying album, Head Above Water, which came out in February 2020, was a secular pop album, albeit a rather uplifting one.
Be yourself
In March 2020, Avril signed a contract with BMG Records. She previously collaborated with Sony Music Entertainment. She also announced plans to release a new album by the end of this year. Some estimates put Lavigne's net worth at $55 million. Overall, she managed to sell 50 million singles and 30 million albums worldwide.
Lavigne attributes her success to always staying true to herself. When asked what she would tell her 17-year-old self when she first started playing music professionally, she said she would tell her to just be yourself, do what you want to do and not let anyone change you. You need to know yourself as an artist and your style, stick to it and fight for who you are.
