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 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
Lavigne wasn't disillusioned, though. She headed for Los Angeles and Nettwerk
grabbed her. Producer/songwriter Clif Magness (Celine
Dion, Wilson Phillips,
Sheena Easton) tweaked 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
