50 Fun Facts About Avril Lavigne

In which Ontario city was Avril Lavigne born?

Belleville. She was born there in 1984, but the family moved to a much smaller farming town when she was five, and that town is the one known as her hometown.

Which accessory, worn over a tank top, was Avril Lavigne's signature look when she broke through in 2002?

A necktie. Teenage girls around the world copied the loose tie over a tank top, a look she put together herself after refusing the label's plans to style her like other teen pop stars.

In which small Ontario town did Lavigne grow up from age five?

Napanee. Her father filled the basement there with a drum kit, a keyboard and guitars to make a music room, and she said it was where she spent all her time after school.

Which sport did Lavigne play in a boys' league from the age of ten?

Ice hockey. She joined the boys because she insisted on doing whatever her older brother did, and she only hung up her skates at 16 when she signed her record deal.

As a teenager, Lavigne won a contest to sing on stage in Ottawa with which Canadian star?

Shania Twain. Walking out in front of 20,000 people, she said she had never smiled so much in her life and decided there and then that performing was what she would do.

Lavigne's first manager discovered her singing country covers in which kind of store?

A bookstore. Cliff Fabri, who became her first manager, said he liked her voice at that small performance, but it was her confident attitude that sold him.

Which label boss signed a 16-year-old Lavigne after a 15-minute audition?

L.A. Reid. He arrived in a rotten mood and had nearly cancelled, but said his mood changed within 30 seconds of hearing her sing, and he offered her a two-album deal on the spot.

Which production team co-wrote 'Complicated' with Lavigne in Los Angeles in 2001?

The Matrix. After months of sessions in New York that were not clicking, she told the trio she was 16 and wanted to rock out, and they wrote the song together that same day.

What was the title of Lavigne's 2002 debut album?

Let Go. She left high school at 16 to make it, and the label's first idea, a set of country songs, was dropped when she pushed for a rock record.

In 2003, Lavigne's debut album made her the youngest female soloist yet to top which country's album chart?

The UK. British buyers gave her debut the No. 1 it never reached in America, where it stalled at No. 2.

Which song did Lavigne want as her second album's lead single instead of 'Don't Tell Me'?

My Happy Ending. By her own account she told the label she had the first single and was overruled; released second, it peaked higher than their choice, reaching No. 9 in America.

At MTV's 2003 Icon tribute, an 18-year-old Lavigne covered 'Fuel' in honour of which band?

Metallica. Covers were a habit that spring: with only one album to her name, she was also stretching her first arena shows with Green Day's 'Basket Case'.

Which Canadian singer-songwriter was Lavigne's main writing partner on her 2004 album Under My Skin?

Chantal Kreviazuk. They met at a Toronto after-party, secretly wrote a song a night for two weeks, and then recorded them at the home studio Kreviazuk shared with her husband in Malibu.

Which Kelly Clarkson hit, heard in The Princess Diaries 2, was co-written by Lavigne?

Breakaway. Lavigne wrote it for her own debut but left it off, and Clarkson swapped its falling snow for rain because her native Texas sees so little of it.

Lavigne recorded the theme song for which 2004 animated film?

The SpongeBob Movie. Her take on the cartoon's theme opens a soundtrack odd enough to include Motörhead, who reworked their own 'You Better Run' as 'You Better Swim'.

Lavigne's 'Keep Holding On' was written for which fantasy film?

Eragon. Written for the dragon film's end credits, the ballad outlasted it: she carried it over as the closing track of her next album, The Best Damn Thing.

'Complicated' stalled at No. 2 in America, so which single gave Lavigne her first Hot 100 No. 1?

Girlfriend. To sell it worldwide she re-recorded the chorus in seven other languages, including Mandarin and Japanese for her big Asian fanbase.

In 2008 the video for Lavigne's 2007 chart-topper overtook which clip as YouTube's most watched?

Evolution of Dance. Her glossy video passed a motivational speaker's low-budget dance routine in a race towards 100 million views, helped by a coordinated fan campaign that drew accusations of dirty tricks.

The Rubinoos sued Lavigne in 2007, claiming one of her hits copied which of their songs?

I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend. The band's songwriters said her single bore striking similarities to it; her manager replied that a musicologist had found none, and the case was settled out of court.

Which country's Islamic opposition party tried to ban Lavigne's 2008 concert as 'too sexy'?

Malaysia. Women's and rights groups attacked the call for a ban as a threat to free expression, and the government approved the Kuala Lumpur concert a week before the date.

Lavigne wrote and sang the end-credits song for which Tim Burton film?

Alice in Wonderland. She was at Disney discussing clothing designs tied to the film when she asked to write for it; Burton agreed, and she wrote 'Alice' at her piano straight away.

Which Rihanna song sampled Lavigne's 'I'm with You'?

Cheers (Drink to That). Its producers looped her 'yeah, yeah' vocal as the hook, which earned Lavigne a writing credit, and she cameos in the video being pushed into a pool.

Which Goodbye Lullaby track began as advert music for Lavigne's first fragrance, which shares its name?

Black Star. She wrote the lullaby-like tune for the perfume's TV adverts, then expanded it into the short introduction that opens the album.

Which member of Nickelback duetted with Lavigne on 'Let Me Go' and married her in 2013?

Chad Kroeger. They bonded while writing songs for her fifth album and, as two Canadians, chose Canada Day for the wedding, held at a castle on the Mediterranean.

Which 2014 Lavigne video sparked accusations of racism that she denied?

Hello Kitty. Critics called its four expressionless backing dancers insensitive; she replied that she had flown to Tokyo to shoot it with a Japanese director and choreographers for her fans there.

Lavigne revealed in 2015 she had been diagnosed with which illness after her 30th birthday?

Lyme disease. Bedridden and at one point certain she would die, she began writing her comeback album Head Above Water from her bed.

Which rapper features on Lavigne's 2019 single 'Dumb Blonde'?

Nicki Minaj. Lavigne wrote the song after a man called her a dumb blonde and she liked the phrase as a title; it was finished as a solo track before Minaj's verse was added.

Whose label, DTA Records, did Lavigne sign with in 2021 for Love Sux?

Travis Barker. Signing to the Blink-182 drummer's label took her back to her pop-punk roots: he drums on the album himself, and his bandmate Mark Hoppus duets on one track.

Which English singer joined Lavigne on 'I'm a Mess' in 2022?

Yungblud. Because the song is about missing someone far away, the video keeps them apart, her skateboarding in sunny California and him in a gloomy London, until they meet at the end.

Lavigne's 2025 single 'Young & Dumb' reunited her with which band from her first tour?

Simple Plan. She called it a full-circle moment: they had opened for her in 2003, when, she said, they were all just kids from small Canadian towns with debut albums out.

Which punk icon's 2025 album Dream into It featured Lavigne on the track '77'?

Billy Idol. The title looks back to 1977, punk's year zero and seven years before his duet partner was born; he had come up among the fans who trailed the Sex Pistols from show to show.

At which 2024 festival did Lavigne draw one of the biggest crowds its second stage had ever seen?

Glastonbury. It was her first time there, 22 years into her career, and the crowd so outgrew the field that latecomers could get nowhere near the stage.

What was Lavigne's childhood nickname, later the name of her Kohl's clothing line?

Abbey Dawn. Her father took the nickname from a street he had seen, and she had been saving it for a song or a daughter, but the clothing line came first.

Lavigne voiced Heather, a young opossum, in which 2006 animated film?

Over the Hedge. She talks with her hands so much that she kept knocking the microphone stand, and the directors had to tell her to hold still while she recorded.

In which Richard Linklater film did Lavigne play a student trying to free cows?

Fast Food Nation. She took the small part in the ensemble drama on purpose, saying she wanted to start small and learn before throwing herself into a big role.

Lavigne's first TV acting appearance was performing 'Sk8er Boi' on which sitcom in 2002?

She later filmed a single scene with Richard Gere and Claire Danes in The Flock.

Lavigne married Deryck Whibley, frontman of which band, in 2006?

Sum 41. The marriage ended after three years, yet the split was friendly enough that Whibley went on to produce several songs on her next album.

Lavigne sang at the closing ceremonies of which two Winter Olympics?

Turin 2006 and Vancouver 2010. In Turin she fronted the segment handing the Games on to Canada; four years later she sang at the home farewell as athletes in foam moose antlers filled the stage.

Lavigne was named to which honour in June 2024?

Order of Canada. The citation honoured her for paving the way for female-driven punk-rock and for her foundation's support of people with serious illnesses and disabilities.

The hoax that Lavigne died in 2003 and was replaced by a double is traced to what?

A Brazilian blog. It was set up to show how easily a conspiracy theory can be started, and a reporter's 2015 posts about it accidentally spread the rumour worldwide.

Lavigne's 2007 story Make 5 Wishes was created as what?

A manga. She said she knew many of her fans read it, so she appears as herself, helping a shy girl whose wishes, granted by a demon, keep going wrong.

Lindsay Lohan said Lavigne inspired her character's look in which film?

Freaky Friday. Lohan said Lavigne 'was everything' to her at the time, so she had her hairstylist bleach white stripes into her natural red hair, and getting the red back was tough.

Which band are Lavigne and her friends singing at the top of their lungs in 'Here's to Never Growing Up'?

Radiohead. The name-check puzzled music writers: NME noted the two acts were worlds apart, and one lyric breakdown of the party anthem was simply headlined 'Why Radiohead?'

At 2004's Fashion Rocks concert, Goo Goo Dolls singer John Rzeznik joined Lavigne unannounced to sing which of his band's hits?

Iris. Lavigne says the band had a huge influence on her growing up, and in 2022 she put the album the song comes from among five she can't live without, partly because it recalls sharing a stage with them.

Lavigne obtained a passport from which country in 2011 through her father's birth?

France. Her father was born in Lorraine, where her Canadian grandfather was serving with the air force, and the family moved to Ontario while he was still a child.

Lavigne's first headlining tour in 2002–03 was called what?

Try to Shut Me Up. With only one album to her name she stretched the set with covers, saving Bob Dylan's 'Knockin' on Heaven's Door' for the encore.

In Lavigne's 'Sk8er Boi', what does the girl who turns the skater down do in her spare time?

Ballet. The song's three-minute love story was vivid enough for Paramount to buy the rights in 2003 and plan a feature film around it, though it was never made.

Lavigne covered Joan Jett's 'Bad Reputation' for which 2012 anime feature?

One Piece Film: Z. The series' creator, Eiichiro Oda, wrote to thank her for an earlier cover, and because the Joan Jett song was a favourite of his, her team offered it as a second theme.

In the early 2000s the press cast Lavigne as the opposite of which pop star?

Britney Spears. Lavigne hated the anti-Britney tag, calling the term stupid and telling one interviewer that Spears was a human being who should be left alone.

Which country star brought Lavigne out as a surprise guest at Nashville's CMA Fest in 2023 to sing 'Sk8er Boi'?

Miranda Lambert. She told the stadium she was about to make more badass happen, introduced Lavigne as her new bestie, and the pair tore through Lambert's 'Kerosene' before the band switched riffs.