Avril Lavigne (Kroeger) was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, and grew up in Napanee. At age two, she was singing songs in church with her mother, Judy. Avril's father later bought her a microphone, a drum kit, a keyboard, and several guitars, and set up a studio in the basement.
Avril performed at county fairs, and soon began writing her own songs. At the age of 15, Avril won a radio station contest and appeared on stage with Shania Twain in Ottawa before 20,000 people. While performing with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was noticed by folksinger Stephen Medd, who asked Avril to sing backing vocals for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit.
In 2000, Cliff Fabri discovered Avril singing country covers at a bookstore in Kingston, Ontario, and he became her manager. Fabri sent out tapes of Lavigne to several record companies. In November, Ken Krongard, an A&R man, invited the head of Arista Records at the time, Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear Lavigne sing. Her 15-minute performance impressed Reid so much that he immediately signed her to a recording contract worth $1.25 million for two albums and an extra $900,000 for a publishing advance.
Avril released the album The Best Damn Thing in 2007 and continued her successful run of #1 albums in the U.K. "Girlfriend" became her first #1 song in the U.S, topping the charts the same week that the album debuted at #1. The single also hit #1 in Canada, Australia, Japan and Italy and peaked at #2 in the U.K. and France. Lavigne recorded "Girlfriend" in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese and Mandarin. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ranked "Girlfriend" as the most-downloaded track in the world in 2007, selling 7.3 million copies.
Avril ventured out on an extensive world tour to promote the album. Forbes magazine ranked Lavigne #8 in the "Top 20 Earners Under 25" with earnings of $12 million.
The Best Damn Thing has now sold over six million copies worldwide, enabling Lavigne to earn World Music Awards for World's Best Pop/Rock Female Artist and World's Best-selling Canadian Artist.
In 2008, Avril introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn. In 2009, she released the first of three perfumes, Black Star, followed by Forbidden Rose in 2010 and Wild Rose in 2011.
Lavigne performed "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend" at the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Later in the year, she introduced "The Avril Lavigne Foundation", which strives to help young people with serious illnesses and disabilities.
Avril's self-titled fifth album on her new record label, Epic, hit stores November 5 of this year. She has gone four singles without reaching the Top 10 since "What The Hell".
Lavigne is nominated for three World Music Awards in the upcoming show in January: World's Best Entertainer, World's Best Live Act and World's Best Female Artist.
In the opening decade of the millennium, Lavigne was one of the biggest stars, with global sales of 30 million albums and 50 million singles. She ranked as the 11th-best-selling female artist of the past decade in the U.S. with 11 million albums sold.
Avril performed at county fairs, and soon began writing her own songs. At the age of 15, Avril won a radio station contest and appeared on stage with Shania Twain in Ottawa before 20,000 people. While performing with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was noticed by folksinger Stephen Medd, who asked Avril to sing backing vocals for his 1999 album, Quinte Spirit.
In 2000, Cliff Fabri discovered Avril singing country covers at a bookstore in Kingston, Ontario, and he became her manager. Fabri sent out tapes of Lavigne to several record companies. In November, Ken Krongard, an A&R man, invited the head of Arista Records at the time, Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear Lavigne sing. Her 15-minute performance impressed Reid so much that he immediately signed her to a recording contract worth $1.25 million for two albums and an extra $900,000 for a publishing advance.
Lavigne released her debut album Let Go in 2002 when she was 17 years old. Her first single, "Complicated" reached #1 in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Ireland, was #2 in the United States and Austria and was #3 in the U.K., Germany and Belgium.
"Complicated" earned an ASCAP Award for Best Pop Song and helped earn Lavigne an American Music Award nomination for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist. Let Go was nominated for Album of the Year at the Billboard Music Awards.
"Complicated" was nominated at the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Lavigne became the youngest solo artist to ever reach #1 on the U.K. Album chart with Let Go, and it peaked at #2 in the United States. The album has gone on to sell 7 million copies in the United States and over 17 million worldwide. Avril released "Sk8er Boi" as her follow-up, and it hit #2 in New Zealand, #3 in Canada, #8 in the U.K. and #10 in the United States. It too captured the attention of her peers when it was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the Grammys.
Avril was the best-selling female artist of 2002. "I'm With You" was the third single from her debut album, peaking at #4 in the U.S. and hitting the Top 15 around the world. It earned an ASCAP Award for Most Performed Song from a Motion Picture (from the great movie Bruce Almighty), and was nominated for Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the Grammy Awards.
Lavigne was nominated for two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album, and "Losing Grip" was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance.
"Complicated and "I'm With You" both earned awards from BMI as Most Performed Songs.
"Complicated and "I'm With You" both earned awards from BMI as Most Performed Songs.
Lavigne released her album Under My Skin in 2004, debuting at #1 in the United States, the U.K., Canada, Australia, Japan and Mexico. "Don't Tell Me" rose to #1 in Argentina and Mexico and hit the Top 5 in the U.K. and Canada:
"My Happy Ending" became a #1 song in Mexico and the Top 5 in the U.K. and Australia, and earned Lavigne a BMI Award for Most Performed Song.
Avril made it three big hits from her second album when "Nobody's Home" hit #1 in Mexico and Argentina.
Lavigne captured two World Music Awards for World's Best Pop/Rock Artist and World's Best-Selling Canadian Artist. She was nominated again for Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist at the American Music Awards, and was also nominated for Favorite Female Performer at the People's Choice Awards.
Under My Skin was a #1 U.S. and U.K. album and has sold over 10 million copies around the globe. Lavigne performed "Who Knows" during the closing ceremonies of the 2006 Torino Olympics. Later that year, she made an on-screen debut in the documentary Fast Food Nation.
Avril released the album The Best Damn Thing in 2007 and continued her successful run of #1 albums in the U.K. "Girlfriend" became her first #1 song in the U.S, topping the charts the same week that the album debuted at #1. The single also hit #1 in Canada, Australia, Japan and Italy and peaked at #2 in the U.K. and France. Lavigne recorded "Girlfriend" in Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, German, Japanese and Mandarin. The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry ranked "Girlfriend" as the most-downloaded track in the world in 2007, selling 7.3 million copies.
Lavigne released "When You're Gone" next, a #3 song in the U.K. and Top 10 in Canada, Australia and Italy. Lavigne received another BMI Award for Most Performed Song.
The Best Damn Thing has now sold over six million copies worldwide, enabling Lavigne to earn World Music Awards for World's Best Pop/Rock Female Artist and World's Best-selling Canadian Artist.
Lavigne performed "My Happy Ending" and "Girlfriend" at the closing ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Later in the year, she introduced "The Avril Lavigne Foundation", which strives to help young people with serious illnesses and disabilities.
Lavigne released the album Goodbye Lullaby in 2011, her fourth consecutive Top 10 album in the U.S. and the U.K. and her third #1 album in both Australia and Japan. "What The Hell", the album's lead single, peaked at #5 in New Zealand, #8 in Canada and #11 in the U.S. The song gave Lavigne another BMI trophy for Most Performed Song.
Avril's self-titled fifth album on her new record label, Epic, hit stores November 5 of this year. She has gone four singles without reaching the Top 10 since "What The Hell".
Lavigne is nominated for three World Music Awards in the upcoming show in January: World's Best Entertainer, World's Best Live Act and World's Best Female Artist.
In the opening decade of the millennium, Lavigne was one of the biggest stars, with global sales of 30 million albums and 50 million singles. She ranked as the 11th-best-selling female artist of the past decade in the U.S. with 11 million albums sold.
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