Avril Lavigne.

At five years old, Avril Lavigne moved from Belleville to Napanee, Ontario. Born on September 27, 1984 to Judith Rosanne Loshaw and Jean-Claude Joseph Lavigne, she grew up with French-Canadian, Polish, English, Irish, and Scottish roots. In elementary school, she was diagnosed with ADHD and often expelled for misbehaving. She played hockey on a boys’ team. Her father bought her a microphone, drums, keyboard, and guitars, converting their basement into a studio to support her musical interests.

At sixteen, Avril Lavigne moved to Manhattan to work on her debut album after securing a record deal. She dropped out of high school after the 11th grade. In 2002, at nearly 18, she released Complicated from her debut album Let Go, which went 6x platinum. The single hit #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and earned her five Grammy nominations, along with MTV Video Music Awards and MTV Europe Music Awards. Her follow-up singles Sk8er Boi and I’m with You established her skate punk persona. She has since released multiple albums and continues to perform.

Avril Lavigne married fellow Canadian musician Deryck Whibley on July 15, 2006; they divorced in November 2010. She later married Chad Kroeger, lead singer of Nickelback, on July 1, 2013; they separated in September 2015. She has two siblings: older sister Michelle and younger brother Matthew. She resides in Malibu, California.

Avril Lavigne revitalized pop-punk and skate-punk fashion in the early 2000s. Her debut album Let Go is the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian artist. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 31, 2022 at 6212 Hollywood Boulevard, with Machine Gun Kelly as a guest speaker. In 2023, she received a star on Canada’s Walk of Fame. On June 21, 2024, the Governor General invested her as a Member of the Order of Canada. She is most remembered for her 2002 anthem Complicated and her influence on pop-punk.