Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario on September 27, 1984 to a devout Christian family, and her love of music was noticed by her family when she was 2 and would sing along to church songs. In 1998 she won a contest to sing with Shania Twain, after which she covered several country songs up... More

Avril Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario on September 27, 1984 to a devout Christian family, and her love of music was noticed by her family when she was 2 and would sing along to church songs. In 1998 she won a contest to sing with Shania Twain, after which she covered several country songs up to the point that she was discovered. At the age of sixteen she was signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire representative of Arista Records, who invited the head of Arista, Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear her sing at the New York City studio of producer Peter Zizzo.

 She then completed work on her first album, Let Go, followed by Under My Skin in 2004-2005, and The Best Damn Thing in 2007. Lavigne made her film debut in the animated film Over the Hedge. The classification of Lavigne's style of music has been debated. All Music Guide and other reviewers consider her "Alternative Pop-Rock", "Teen Pop", "Pop/Rock", "Post-grunge" and "Punk-pop." The reason for the confusion appears to be for her punk-like appearance early in her career, along with statements made by the songstress herself that she is "as punk as they come". However, there have been several occasions where she has stated "I'm not punk." Lavigne told MTV Essential: Avril Lavigne in April 2007 that "I'm a rocker chic and not completly pop", and though she cites many early punk bands and figures as influences, her music has little in common with 1970s punk.

In 2006, Avril married Derek Whibley, singer from the band Sum 41 at a small ceremony in California. They now live in the house in Bel-Air previously owned by Travis Barker and his wife, and Lavigne is involved in a number of charities.

Avril Lavigne(8)