Avril Lavigne is a Canadian pop rock/punk singer-songwriter from Belleview, Ontario.

Born 27^th September 1984, Lavigne began singing at the age of two. At fourteen her father built her a home studio, complete with microphone, drum kit, keyboard, rhythm and bass guitars, and Lavigne soon began to perform at country fairs and write her own material.

In 1998 she won a radio competition and got the opportunity to appear with Shania Twain on tour. Off the back of this she was invited to perform on local singer Stephen Medd’s 1999 album Quinte Spirit.

In 2000 Lavigne auditioned for the head of Arista Records, Antonio Reid, and was immediately signed to a two album contract. She dropped out of school and moved to America to record her debut album…

Let’s Go was released in June 2002, when Lavigne was just seventeen. It shot to number two on the Billboard 200, reaching number one in the UK and Canada. It eventually went on to sell over sixteen million copies – making it one of the biggest selling albums of the decade – and produced three Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 singles: Complicated, Sk8er Boi and I’m With You. The album earned a total of eight Grammy Award nominations and led to the singer being named Best New Artist at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards.

Lavigne’s next album, 2004’s Under My Skin, was also a huge commercial success. It debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and has, to date, sold over ten million copies worldwide. It spawned the Top 30 singles My Happy Ending and Don’t Tell Me and led to her performing on her first world tour.

The singer’s third album The Best Damn Thing was released in April 2007. It was another Billboard 200 number one hit and has sold over seven million records worldwide to date. The lead single Girlfriend shot to the top spot on the Hot 100 and was the biggest selling song of 2007, while the follow up singles When You’re Gone, Hot and The Best Damn Thing all charted.

In January 2010 Lavigne released the single Alice for the soundtrack to the Tim Burton film Alice in Wonderland, and she is currently working on material for her fourth studio album.