Avril Lavigne

still complicated

Imagine having the collective opinion of you based on your 17-year-old self. That’s the uphill battle Avril Lavigne faces every day: a public image forged at the dawn of the new century when the Southern Ontario native should have been finishing high school. So it’s a testament to her tenacious, take-no-shit attitude that the now-34-year-old singer has not only survived, but flourished, maturing from the pop punk princess into an adult pop artist and prolific songwriter.

Navigating the public’s fickle tastes and a male-dominated music industry for two decades, Lavigne has never been one to ask for permission, and rarely apologizes after the fact. She’s sold over 40 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide, making her the third-highest selling female artist of all time, behind fellow Canadians Céline Dion and Shania Twain. Though never a critical darling, Lavigne now finds herself regarded as one of pop’s elder statesmen, an inspiration to an array of young, female artists from social media pop phenom Billie Eilish to indie rockers Soccer Mommy, Snail Mail and Alex Lahey. As Lavigne readies her first album in five years, Head Above Water, we take a look back at her career.

1984 to 1998

Avril Ramona Lavigne is born on September 27, 1984 in Belleville, ON, and is raised as a devout Christian. When Avril is 5, the family move to nearby Napanee. Her father nurtures his daughter’s musical ambitions, converting the family’s basement into a studio. As a young teen, Lavigne performs country covers at fairs and other community events.

1999

After winning a country radio singing contest, she performs with Shania Twain, then at the height of her fame, at the Corel Centre in Ottawa; they duet on Twain’s “What Made You Say That.” Cliff Fabri sees Lavigne perform at a Chapters book store in Kingston and becomes her first manager. He distributes a VHS of her singing karaoke in her parents’ basement to industry execs and the tape catches the ear of Nettwerk’s Mark Jowett, who hooks her up with producer Peter Zizzo in New York. Two of the songs they work on together — “Nobody’s Fool” and “Why” — will later appear on Lavigne’s debut. The demos attract the attention of Arista Records, whose president, Antonio “L. A.” Reid, signs Lavigne on the spot. Her two-record deal is reportedly worth $1.25 million, with a $900,000 publishing advance. She is 16 years old.

Lavigne drops out of school and relocates to New York to focus on her career, but struggles to find a sound of her own. Sessions with seasoned veterans produce a host of the new country tunes on which she cut her teeth, but fail to reflect her rapidly developing tastes, particularly in hard rock and punk. She relocates to Los Angeles and hooks up with producer and songwriter Clif Magness, who gives her more creative freedom. He ends up co-writing five songs that end up on her debut, including “Losing Grip.”

In May, she’s paired with the songwriting team of Lauren Christy, Graham Edwards and Scott Spock, who collectively work under the name the Matrix. “This kid had melted toothbrushes up her arm, her hair was in braids and she wore black skater boots,” recalls Christy of their first meeting with the singer. “She didn’t seem like the Faith Hill type.” After Lavigne plays the trio a System of a Down-esque track that she’s written, they tell her to come back the next day and quickly write two songs, one of which is “Complicated.” Arista’s Reid asks the trio to knock out a further ten tracks.

2002

Lavigne finishes recording her debut in January. First single “Complicated” is released in May. Let Go is released in June and is an instant smash. About half the songs are credited or co-credited to the Matrix, with the other half culled from Lavigne’s work with Magness. Both boast a crunchy pop rock sound that better reflects Lavigne’s tastes and personality. Unlike the mid-tempo song it accompanies, the video for “Complicated” features Lavigne and her bandmates “crashing” the mall, causing general anarchy for shoppers and mall cops, intercut with performance shots filmed at a skate park. Viewers’ first introduction to the singer cements her as a teen fashion icon; in the clip she can be seen wearing Chuck Taylor sneakers, a white tank-top and black tie with a matching arm warmer.

Her tomboy-ish style makes her the perfect foil for the hypersexual teen pop that dominates the airwaves. In a November profile, Entertainment Weekly’s Chris Willman writes “Pop tarts are assumed to be toast, especially now that tie-wearing tomboy Lavigne has been dubbed ‘the anti-Britney’ by her legions of new supporters.” “I don’t like that term — ‘the anti-Britney.’ It’s stupid,” says Lavigne. ”I don’t believe in that. She’s a human being. God, leave her alone!”

In June, Lavigne cameos in the video for Treble Charger’s “Hundred Million” along with members of Gob, Sum 41 and Swollen Members, all of whom are at their commercial peak. In 2011, she’ll recall meeting Sum 41 singer Deryck Whibley at a bar while still underage. “I made out with him the first day I met him. He gave me my first shot of Jäger,” she’ll tell Rolling Stone. “As I was getting carried out of the bar, I saw Chad from Nickelback!”

Let Go hits #2 in the U.S. and #1 in Canada, Australia and the UK, where the now-17-year old Lavigne is the first solo female artist to have a #1 album. It becomes the top-selling debut of the year and the best-selling album by a female artist. She’s nominated for eight Grammys, wins four Junos and the MTV Award for Best New Artist.

2003

In January, she is the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. In May she performs a cover of “Fuel” at MTV’s Icon tribute to Metallica alongside similarly incongruous artists like Sum 41 and Snoop Dogg, as well as hard rockers Korn, Limp Bizkit and Staind. Backstage she meets Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst. “He took a private jet out to one of my shows, expecting me to bang him,” she’ll later tell Rolling Stone. “He was disappointed that I wouldn’t even go near him [laughs].”

Lavigne meets fellow Canadian singer and songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk after a SARS benefit concert and the two become friends.

2004 to 2005

Despite their success together, Lavigne ditches the Matrix for her followup to Let Go after a dispute over songwriting credit. “We conceived ideas on guitar and piano,” Christy tells Rolling Stone. “Avril would sing a few melodies, change a word here or there.”

“I am a writer,” Lavigne tells the Associated Press, “and I won’t accept people trying to take that away from me. Anyone who does is ignorant and doesn’t know what they’re talking about.”

Second album Under My Skin is released in May. Most of its songs are co-written with Kreviazuk and her husband, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida. Lavigne, Kreviazuk and Maida write together in Toronto for three weeks before decamping for the couple’s recording studio in Malibu, where much of the record is recorded. It features a more consistent post-grunge sound than its predecessor, while ditching the pop punk influences.

The album’s first two singles, “Don’t Tell Me” and “My Happy Ending” chart well in a number of countries, but subsequent singles fail to make a major impact.

Allmusic.com’s Stephen Thomas Erlewine notes that “Lavigne hasn’t only shed her trademark ties for thrift-shop skirts, she’s essentially ditched the sound of Let Go too, bringing herself closer to the mature aspirations of fellow young singer/songwriter Michelle Branch.”

MuchMusic hosts an hour-long Intimate and Interactive performance and interview with Lavigne and she makes a second appearance on Saturday Night Live. She begins dating Sum 41’s Whibley, and gets the letter “D” encircled by a pink heart tattooed on her right wrist; they get engaged in June 2005. A bizarre conspiracy theory that Lavigne has died and been replaced by a clone or doppelganger named Melissa surfaces on a Brazilian fan page.

2006 to 2007

Lavigne and Whibley marry on July 15, 2007 in Montecito, California.

The Best Damn Thing is released in April, 2008, and hits #1 on the Billboard 200. As of 2018, it has sold nine million copies worldwide. It features a brighter, more pop-friendly sound than its predecessor, and sees Lavigne ditch her gothy post-grunge look for a mix of bleach blonde hair and hot pink highlights.

Allmusic.com calls the album “exuberant, irreverent, and exciting as any other bubblegum pop, defiantly silly and shallow, but also deliriously hooky.” First single “Girlfriend” sells over seven million copies worldwide, making it one of the biggest selling singles of 2007. The track’s sound — a mix of foot stomps, handclaps and cheerleader chants paired with a big pop punk chorus — is more in line with the sound of her debut.

In May, ’70s power-pop band the Rubinoos sue Lavigne claiming that “Girlfriend” infringes on their song “I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend.” The case is settled in 2008.

The following month, Kreviazuk also accuses Lavigne of dubious songwriting credits. “Avril doesn’t really sit and write songs by herself or anything,” Kreviazuk tells Performing Songwriter, claiming that she sent Lavigne a version of the song “Contagious” two years prior to it appearing on The Best Damn Thing, without giving Kreviazuk credit. “Avril will also cross the ethical line, and no one says anything. That’s why I’ll never work with her again.” Kreviazuk retracts her statement in July.

“I don’t like that term — the ‘anti-Britney.’ It’s stupid. I don’t believe in that. She’s a human being. Leave her alone.”

2008 to 2009

Lavigne embarks on the “Best Damn World Tour” in March; the April stop at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto is released as a live DVD in September. The government of Malaysia attempts to ban her August gig in Kuala Lumpur, claiming Lavigne’s stage moves are “too sexy,” but the show ultimately goes on.

In October, Lavigne files for divorce from Whibley. “I am grateful for our time together, and I am grateful and blessed for our remaining friendship,” she writes in a statement.

2010

Along with a host of Canadian artists, including Nelly Furtado, Drake and Tom Cochrane, Lavigne sings on K’Naan’s charity single “Wavin’ Flag”; proceeds go to victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The same year, she launches her own charity, the Avril Lavigne Foundation, aimed at young people with serious illnesses and disabilities.

Rihanna samples “I’m With You” on her song “Cheers (Drink to That)” from her album Loud and Lavigne makes a cameo in the video.

2011

After a two-and-a-half year wait, Goodbye Lullaby arrives in March. It’s billed as her divorce album, even though a number of the songs are produced by Whibley. After finishing two-thirds of the record at home, she flies to Sweden to work with Max Martin and Shellback, who co-write and produce the record’s first single “What the Hell,” which follows more in the mould of The Best Damn Thing; the rest of the album features a more mature adult-contemporary sound.

“You make those songs ’cause you have to, but then the stuff that’s the best on record is the album tracks,” she’ll tell The Guardian in 2019, noting that it was the first time she’d compromised her artistic vision on record. Goodbye Lullaby receives mixed reviews, garnering a score of 58 on Metacritic.

Using France’s jus sanguinis citizenship laws (both her parents are French citizens), Lavigne obtains a French passport. She sells her home in Bel-Air and moves to Paris. She moves from Arista to Epic Records, now headed by Reid, who originally signed the singer.

2012 to 2013

She begins co-writing with Chad Kroeger, frontman of oft-maligned Canadian rock band Nickelback, in March 2012. They begin dating in July, and are engaged by August. Lavigne and Kroeger marry on Canada Day, 2013, in the south of France and honeymoon in Italy. Recording drags into the summer and Avril Lavigne isn’t released until November, 2013. The record is preceded by “Here’s to Never Growing Up,” a nostalgic rallying cry that splits the difference between the pop punk of The Best Damn Thing and the more adult contemporary Goodbye Lullaby.

Though she’s no longer a cultural lightning rod, the record posts strong sales and chart placements around the globe. It receives mixed reviews and currently holds a metacritic score of 65. “Hello Kitty” is released as a single in Japan only. The J-pop and EDM-inspired track is widely panned, while its accompanying music video is criticized for its depiction of Japanese culture.

2014 to 2015

Lavigne finds the tour schedule behind Avril Lavigne gruelling and is constantly fatigued, though doctors can’t pinpoint the problem. At first she’s diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome and anxiety. In December, Lavigne, still only 30, is diagnosed with Lyme disease. In April 2015, she goes public with her diagnosis, and begins treating the disease with a mix of “antibiotics and herbs.” Lavigne announces her separation from Kroeger on Instagram in September.

2016 to 2017

In December, she stands up for her ex-husband Kroeger’s band after Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says that “there are no good Nickelback songs.” In a Twitter post, she takes the tech billionaire to task: “When you have a voice like yours, you may want to consider being more responsible with promoting bullying.” The clone conspiracy resurfaces on Twitter. After two years of treatment, during which she spent many days in bed, Lavigne begins recording for a new album in early 2017. In March, she signs a new deal with BMG Records, with plans to release an album within the calendar year. Her deal with BMG casts her more as a legacy artist, with the burdens of pop chart domination put on the backburner.

2018 to 2019

In February, Lavigne attends the “Women in Harmony” dinner, “a celebration and conversation amongst the strongest female writers, producers and artists in the music business,” organized by Bebe Rexha. “It’s just encouraging to be around other women in music in general and songwriters,” Lavigne tells Billboard. In September, she releases “Head Above Water,” her first new music in over three years and the first music she made after her diagnosis. “I was fresh off not singing for two years,” she explains in her official bio. “I thought my voice would be weak, it ended up being stronger than ever. The break happened to actually be good for my vocal cords.” It’s the title track from her sixth album, which is released in February 2019, more than five years since her last album. Notably, the song “It Was in Me” is co-written with Lauren Christy, formerly one-third of the Matrix.

“I’m highly intuitive and I’ve always got a very strong gut feeling,” Lavigne tells The Guardian in January. “I’ve always felt that I’ve known what’s best for me to do, and I’ve had to fight different people on this journey.”