Avril Lavigne

From a French Canadian family, Avril Lavigne (September 27, 1984) first came to attention in 1998 when she won a talent competition to appear on stage with Shania Twain. Local folk singer Steve Medd invited her to sing on his albums which helped her discovery by major label Arista. She fought to get Arista to allow her to record her own songs and worked with production team The Matrix on her 2002 studio debut Let Go. The album turned her into a household name in both Canada and the US, and at the age of 17, she became the youngest female artist to have a UK Number 1 album. Helped by exposure on the Dawson's Creek TV show, the album sold over 16 million copies and produced breakthrough hit singles "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi." It turned her into a teen idol but she also proved to be a talented songwriter - Kelly Clarkson had a hit with her song "Breakaway" - and continued to make interesting records while broadening her horizons to move into acting with roles in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, The Flock and Over the Hedge. Her third album The Best Damn Thing spawned the single "Girlfriend," which became her first Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and also won her several awards including MTV Europe's Most Addictive Track. She followed this with fourth album Goodbye Lullaby (2011), Avril Lavigne (2013), and Head Above Water (2019) as her sixth. In 2019, Lavigne released a collaborative single with rapper Nicki Minaj titled "Dumb Blonde." Preceded by the singles "Bite Me," and "Love It When You Hate Me," her seventh studio full-length Love Sux (2022) debuted at Number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.