Avril Ramona Lavigne (born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian pop punk singer/ songwriter and actress who is known for her " skater punk" persona. Avril is deeply displeased with being referred to as 'punker lavinge'. She states that her music is not what punkers listen to. Her two albums, Let Go (2002) and Under My Skin (2004), topped the charts in numerous countries.
Although her name is of French origin, she herself does not speak French and her name is pronounced in an anglicized way, more or less as "La-veen" (/ˈævrəl ləˈviːn/). Her first name, Avril, means "April" in French, but is also pronounced in an anglicized way as "Ahv-ril".
Born in Belleville, Ontario to conservative Franco-Ontarian Christian parents John and Judy Lavigne, Avril moved at age five to Napanee, where she sang in a church choir and taught herself to play 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.