Avril Lavigne – A Pop-Rock Icon of the 21st Century

Most people will recognize her lyrics and many young women have imitated her style. Her punk-rock image is refreshing and her songs are catchy. Despite being only 23 years old, she has sold more than twenty-six million albums worldwide. Avril Lavigne is one of the most recognized female rock artists to emerge in the 21st century.

Born Avril Ramona Lavigne on 27 September 1984, Lavigne is a Canadian signer and musician. She was born in Belleville, Ontario, and moved to Napanee, Ontario, with her family at five years of age. Her mother, Judy, is French Canadian and her father, John, was born in France, but despite this Lavigne cannot speak French. Her musical talents were first realized when she was about two years of age and she began singing along with her mother to church songs.

In 1998 when Avril Lavigne was 14 years of age, she won a competition and was able to sing with Shania Twain. The following year she started attracting more attention after being spotted by Steve Medd, a local folk singer, who invited her to sing with him. Together the two sang three songs together. By the tender age of sixteen she was able to sign with her first record company. A short while later she completed her first album ‘Let Go’. The album was released on 4 June 2002 in the US where it reached number two and then later went on to become number one in Australia, the UK and Canada. The album went on to become the best selling female artist’s album of the year and sold some 13 197 000 copies world wide.

Two years later Avril Lavigne released her second album titled ‘Under My Skin’. It debuted at number one in 13 different countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Spain, Ireland, Thailand, Korea and Hong Kong. Different tracks from the album met with different reactions with some songs reaching the top five in some countries while others did not make the top forty.

During the following years Lavigne engaged in several world tours – traveling to and performing in countries across the globe to satisfy her massive fan base. In 2007 Avril Lavigne released her third album ‘The Best Damn Thing’ which again debuted at number one in the US. Thus far the single ‘Girlfriend’ has probably been the most popular on the album. Lavigne has also been involved in the film industry, doing the voice for one of the animated characters for the film ‘Over the Hedge’. She has also acted in the film ‘The Flock’ and is working on a third movie ‘Fast Food Nation’. Her song ‘Keep Holding On’ was created for the Eragon film soundtrack and was included on her third album.

Avril Lavigne continues to have massive fan groups around the globe. Many young woman complained when her ‘punk’ image started to change, but Lavigne just remarked that it was ‘part of growing up’. Regardless of how she portrays herself, she continues to inspire young woman around the globe to be more confident about themselves – something which any female artist can be proud of.