AVRIL LAVIGNE

Avril Ramona Lavigne ( AV-ril lə-VEEN; French: [avʁil ʁamɔna laviɲ]; born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She is a key musician in popularizing pop-punk music, as she paved the way for female-driven, punk-influenced pop music in the early 2000s. Her accolades include ten Juno Awards and eight Grammy Awards nominations. At age 16, Lavigne signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records. Her debut album, Let Go (2002), is the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian artist. It yielded the successful singles "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi", which emphasized a skate punk persona and earned her the titles of "Pop-Punk Queen", "Pop-Punk Princess" and "Teen-Pop Slayer" from music publications. Her second album, Under My Skin (2004), became Lavigne's first to reach the top of the Billboard 200 chart in the United States, going on to sell 10 million copies worldwide. Lavigne's third album, The Best Damn Thing (2007), reached number one in seven countries worldwide and saw the international success of its lead single "Girlfriend", which became her first single to reach the top of the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States.