Lavigne, Avril

Avril Ramona Lavigne (born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian pop rock singer-songwriter and actress who is known for her "skater punk" persona. Her two albums, Let Go (2002) and Under My Skin (2004), topped the charts in numerous countries. more...

Although her surname is of French origin, she herself does not speak French and her name is pronounced in an anglicized way, somewhat as ("La-veen"), rather than . Her first name, Avril, is French for April, but is also pronounced in an anglicized, way as ("Av-ril"), rather than .

Biography

Early life

Born in Belleville, Ontario, to Franco-Ontarian Christian parents John and Judy Lavigne, Avril, at age five, moved with her family to Napanee, Ontario, Canada, where she sang in a church choir and taught herself to play the guitar.

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, Avril was spotted by local folksinger Steve 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 followup album, My Window To You, in 2000.

At 16, she was signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire (A&R) representative of Arista Records, who invited his boss, Arista head Antonio "L.A." Reid, to hear her sing in a New York City studio. She then completed work on her first album.

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