Avril Lavigne - European Music Awards

Avril Lavigne Profile Name: Avril Lavigne Birth Name: Avril Ramona Lavigne Height: 5' 2" Sex: F Nationality: Canadian Birth Date: September 27, 1984 Birth Place: Napanee, Ontario, Canada Profession: musician Husband/Wife: Deryck Whibley (lead vocalist of Sum 41; born on March 21, 1980; engaged on June 25, 2005; married July 15, 2006) Father: John Lavigne Mother: Judy Lavigne Sister: Michelle Lavigne Brother: Matt Lavigne Avril Lavigne Biography Avril Lavigne Whibley, better known by her birth name of Avril Lavigne (IPA: /'ævr?l.l?'vi?n/), (born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian rock/punk-pop singer, musician and actress. In 2006, Canadian Business Magazine ranked her the seventh most powerful Canadian in Hollywood, and in 2007 she won ninth place in the Jabra Music Contest for the Best Band in the World, based on fan votes from around the world. Lavigne's birth name is usually pronounced in an anglicized way as /'ævr?l l?'vi?n/ ("La-Veen") (in French it is commonly pronounced /a'v?il la'vi??/ (help·info)). Avril is French for "April", while la vigne means "the vine" or "the vineyard". Lavigne's debut album, Let Go, was released in 2002, and went on to sell over 18 million copies worldwide. and was certified six times platinum in the United States. Her second and third albums, Under My Skin (2004) and The Best Damn Thing (2007), respectively, reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. Lavigne has scored five number one songs worldwide to date and a total of eleven top ten hits, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", and "Girlfriend". She's ranked # 50 on VH1's "50 Greatest Women Of The Video Era" show list. Avril Lavigne was born in Napanee, Ontario to a devout Christian family. Lavigne's musical talent was first spotted at the age of two when her mother says Lavigne began singing along with her on church songs. The family moved to Napanee, Ontario, when Lavigne was five years old. In 1998, Avril Lavigne won a competition to sing with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain on her first major concert tour. She appeared alongside Twain at her concert in Ottawa, appearing on stage to sing "What Made You Say That". She was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre, Lavigne was spotted by local folk singer Steve Medd (a relation of the influential Canadian journalist, Ben Medd), who invited her to sing on his song "Touch the Sky" for his 1999 album Quinte Spirit. She also sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two Rivers" for his follow up album, My Window to You, in 2000. At the age of sixteen she was signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire (A&R) representative of Arista Records, who invited the head of Arista, Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear her sing at the New York City studio of producer Peter Zizzo. She then completed work on her first album, Let Go. The Matrix, who worked extensively with Lavigne on the album, commented on her songwriting, saying, "We conceived the ideas on guitar and piano. Avril would come in and sing a few melodies, change a word here or there."