Avril Lavigne

Avril Lavigne is a Canadian and French 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.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach No. 1 in the UK. As of 2013, it has sold nearly 7 million copies in the United States and over 17 million copies worldwide. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated," peaked at No. 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 No. 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 No. 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Girlfriend." Lavigne has scored six No. 1 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 No. 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.

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.