Avril Lavigne: Snapshot

Avril Lavigne: Five Fun Facts

1. Avril Lavigne learned how to use a Weedwacker at age 12 and earned $15 a yard as a lawn landscaper.
2. In 1999, Avril Lavigne won a radio contest to sing a duet with Shania Twain in Ottawa. "As soon as I walked out in front of 20,000 people, I'd never smiled so much in my life – it was like perma-smile," she told EW . "I thought, 'this is what I'm going to do with my life.'"
3. Avril Lavigne earned ''Most Valuable Player'' honors two years in a row as the right-wing on a Napanee, Ontario hockey team. She once beat up a goalie and said of the experience, "It was awesome!"
4. Though her style sense has changed since her early career, Avril Lavigne still loves to wear black nail polish.
5. On Avril Lavigne's wedding day, her chauffeur drove her to the wrong California estate, where another wedding was being held. Thankfully, the driver of her vintage Rolls Royce quickly found the right location.

Avril Lavigne: Biography

1996

Guitar Hero

Lavigne teaches herself to play the guitar and begins to showcase her powerful voice at local festivals, country fairs and even a Canadian Tire celebration. Her first manager, Cliff Fabri, discovers her two years later at age 14 singing in a bookstore.

2000

Fall

Long Live Rock

L.A. Reid, head of Arista Records, signs Lavigne to a $1.25 million contract when she is 16. She drops out of high school and moves to New York to record her first album. Arista provides her with country music to record, but after six months of working with cowriters, it becomes obvious that the singer is more interested in rock. The young singer-songwriter soon ditches the setup and moves to L.A.

2002

June 04

Meteoric Debut

Dressed in skater pants, Lavigne appears on the cover of her debut album, Let Go , which sells more than 13 million copies worldwide. Thanks to the singles "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi," the album becomes the third biggest-selling album of 2002, and Lavigne earns five Grammy nods .

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