 Rock & roll wild child
Avril Lavigne hit big in summer 2002 with her spiky-fun
debut song "Complicated," shifting pop music into a
different direction.
Avril Lavigne, who was 17 at the time, didn't seem concerned
with the glamour of the TRL-dominated pop world and such
confidence allowed her star power to soar.
The middle of three children in small town Napanee,
Ontario,
Avril Lavigne's rock ambitions were noticeable around age two.
By her early teens, she was already writing songs and
playing guitar. The church choir and local festivals and
county fairs also allowed
Avril Lavigne to get her voice heard, and luckily, Arista
Records' main man
Antonio "L.A." Reid was listening. He offered her a
deal, and at 16,
Avril Lavigne's musical dreams became reality.
With
Reid's assistance and a new Manhattan apartment,
Avril Lavigne found herself surrounded by prime songwriters
and producers, but it wasn't impressive enough for her to
continue. She had always relied on her own ideas to create a
musical spark and things weren't going as planned.
Avril Lavignee wasn't disillusioned, though. She headed for Los
Angeles and Nettwerk grabbed her. Producer/songwriter
Clif Magness (Celine
Dion,
Wilson Phillips,
Sheena Easton) tweaked
Avril Lavigne's melodic, edgy sound and her debut, Let Go, was
the polished product. Singles such as "Complicated" and
"Sk8er Boi" hit the Top Ten while "I'm With You" and "Losing
Grip" did moderately well at radio. Butch Walker of the
Marvelous 3, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida and Don
Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte) signed on to produce
Avril Lavigne's second album, Under My Skin, which appeared in
May 2004. ~ MacKenzie Wilson, All Music Guide
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