|
Avril Lavigne Whibley, better
known by her birth name of Avril
Lavigne, 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.
Avril Lavigne was born in Belleville, 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, 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."
In the January 2003 issue of Seventeen magazine, she admitted to
"snagging a bite of Matt's cheeseburgers every now and again." Also
in a recent interview, she said she prefers not to eat meat, but
will not say she's a vegetarian "in case anyone caught her eating
meat".
As a teenager she would hang out at the La Pizzeria restaurant in
Napanee, Ontario. In her Under My Skin Bonez Documentary, she has
stated that pizza with olive toppings is her favorite food, although
she doesn't eat it too much because pizza is detrimental to her
voice. Since her rise to fame, the restaurant has named a pizza
after Lavigne that contains her favorite
toppings and there is a guest book for fans to sign that Lavigne picks up when she visits friends and
family in her home town.
Lavigne has a star tattooed on the inside
of her left wrist that matches the style of the one used for her
first album artwork. It was created at the same time as friend and
musical associate Ben Moody's identical tattoo. In late 2004, she
had a small pink heart-shaped tattoo featuring the letter 'D'
applied to her right wrist—thought to be a reference to husband
Deryck Whibley, with whom she has bought a house in Bel-Air,
previously owned by another famous couple: Travis Barker and Shanna
Moakler for $9.5 Million. The house has 8 bedrooms, 10.5 bathrooms,
an office, elevator, a high-tech kitchen and a 10-car garage.
Lavigne was romantically linked to her
former guitarist Jesse Colburn, but despite rumors citation needed,
she did not have a relationship with another former guitarist, Evan
Taubenfeld. However, Taubenfeld still considers Lavigne his "dearest friend in the whole world" as
said on a recent Q&A on his band's official website. In a J-14
magazine from 2004, she talks about her first kiss being when she
was fourteen years old.cite this quote
In February 2004, she began dating fellow Canadian singer Deryck
Whibley, the lead singer/guitarist of pop punk band Sum 41. On June
27, 2005, Lavigne and Whibley became
engaged. Whibley proposed to Lavigne by
surprising her with a trip to Venice, a gondola ride, and then a
romantic picnic.
The couple married in a Catholic ceremony attended by about 110
guests on July 15, 2006 at a private estate in the California
coastal city of When asked if they were ready for kids the couple
said "not right now but somewhere down the road."
Also, Avril has recently become a member of the website Stardoll.
On the website, there are three 'Avril' dolls that you can dress up.
All three relate to her image in each of her three CDs. The latest
one comes equipped with hair and clothes of all three of her
characters in her "Girlfriend" video.
|