Avril Lavigne

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born in a Canadian town called Belleville, Ontario, in 1984. Her parents, the devoted Christians, discovered the talent of their daughter when she was still in her infancy. Being only 2 years old little Avril already sang Christian songs with her mother. Her family moved to Napanee, also in Ontario, when the girl was five. There Avril became a local star soon, performing at all the festivals and fairs. She also sang in a local church quire. The gifted girl started writing songs soon after she reached her teens. It may sound strange, but at that time, she was obsessed with country music, all the first compositions of the young artist were written in this musical style. Canadian folk singer Steve Medd noticed Lavigne and was interested in her success. In 1998, Avril won in the competition for the right to sing a song with country diva Shania Twain during her musical tour. After that event the talented teenager caught the eye of big shots, and after high school graduation Avril moved to Manhattan to record her first disc.

However, the girl got interested in rock music. This interest proved to be so serious that Lavigne decided to create music in that genre and moved to Los Angeles, where she recorded her debut disc Let Go at the Artista Records studio. Let Go was released in 2002. The first pop-rock single Complicated, full of energy and youthful enthusiasm, tore the charts all over the world. Complicated was followed by the playful hit Sk8er Boi, cute romantic ballad I'm With You and Losing Grip. The Let Go disc became multiplatinum soon after the release, making Avril Lavigne one of major pop-stars. The artist decided to hire a command of professionals for the work over her second attempt, including Ben Moody from Evanescence and Chantal Kreviazuk. The last one accused Lavigne of being unprofessional and plagiarism soon after the issue of the disc, though lately she refused from those words. Nevertheless, nothing could cloud the sparkling sophomore full-length by Avril called Under My Skin.

On Under My Skin the singer broadened her repertoire with the help of alternative rock music with a goth-rock edge along with the traditional pop-punk tunes. Besides, she touched upon a number of serious themes in her creativity - for example, sex before marriage in the song Don't Tell Me, death of close people (Slipped Away) and depressions (Nobody's Home). All in all, the Under My Skin demonstrated that the artist grew up not solely as the singer-songwriter but as a person too. May be, all this was caused by the love that enlightened Avril's life - in 2004, she started relations with the Canadian band Sum 41 leader Daryck Wimbley. They consequently married in July 2006. Avril's husband co-produced her new album The Best Damn Thing, which hit the shelves in spring 2007. A more light and up-tempo than Under My Skin, this daring disc with catchy choruses fell into the hearts of the listeners. Parallel to it, Lavigne was accused of plagiarism - this time she allegedly got her winding lead-single Girlfriend after reworking the song I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend of 1979 by the Rubinoos. Taking into the consideration that even the rock legends Led Zeppelin were accused of plagiarism, Avril simply wrote an open letter to her fans, firmly stating that she had never heard the mentioned song before and she would also like to see the Rubinoos' proves in the court.

However, nothing could keep the artist from continuing her concert activities. In 2008, the singer’s fans were happy to ad to their collections her new live album, Live At Roxy Theatre.