Complicated Facts about Avril Lavigne

October 17, 2023 | Miles Brucker

Complicated Facts about Avril Lavigne


“Why should I care what other people think of me? I am who I am. And who I wanna be". – Avril Lavigne

Canadian singer-songwriter and actress, Avril Lavigne took the music world by storm after signing her first record contract at the age of 16.

Here are a few things you might not know about The Pop Punk Princess herself: Avril Lavigne.


1. Skater Style

Avril has a best-selling fashion and lifestyle brand called Abbey Dawn, named after Lavigne’s childhood nickname. She is not just the name behind the brand, but also the designer, utilizing skulls, zebras, and hot pinks and blacks.

Avrillavigne-Msn

2. Small Town Girl

Avril is from a town called Napanee, Ontario, which is so small that the local pizza joint has named a pizza after her. For the record, it contains pepperoni, olives, and mushrooms. No pineapple. Because she’s not a monster.

Avril Lavigne FactsFlickr, Simon Q

3. Name of the Month

She was named “Avril” by her father after the French word for the month of April. Good thing she wasn’t born in October.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

4. One Woman Band

A self-taught musician, Avril can play the guitar, piano, and drums.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

5. Smells Like Teen Spirit

Avril’s favorite band is Nirvana, which is a bit surprising considering she’s young enough to have been the baby on the album cover for Nevermind.

Avril Lavigne FactsFlickr, José Luis Merizalde

6. Called It

At the age of 15, Lavigne won a radio contest and was given the opportunity to appear on stage with Shania Twain, Canadian music royalty. Lavigne apparently told Shania that she was going to become “a famous singer".

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

7. Booked!

Lavigne was discovered by her first professional manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers in a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

8. School is for Suckers

After Antonio “L.A". Reid, then head of Arista Records, heard Lavigne sing, he immediately signed her to deal worth $1.25 million with a $900,000 advance. At this point, Avril dropped out of school to focus on her music career.

Avril Lavigne FactsFlickr, Tim Wang

9. Enter The Matrix

Working with The Matrix production team, she created two songs (including “Complicated”) that resulted in a major breakthrough in terms of finding Lavigne an individual sound. “Complicated” ended up being her debut single.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

10. Pretty Girls

When she first arrived on the scene, she was described by many as the “Anti-Britney” due to her less commercial and “real” image. Avril argued against this, saying, “I'm not made up and I'm not being told what to say and how to act, so they have to call me the anti-Britney, which I'm not".

Modern Family FactsGetty Images

11. With Glowing Hearts

Avril represented Canada at the closing ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. She performed her song “Who Knows".

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

12. Winter Wonder

She also performed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, BC along with then-husband Chad Kroeger, Alanis Morissette, and Simple Plan.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

13. Isn’t That Special

Continuing her long lasting relationship with the Olympic games, she released a single, “Fly,” in association with the 2015 Special Olympics World Summer Games.

Avril Lavigne FactsFlickr, Justin Higuchi

14. None Shall Pass… Except Avril

Sir Ian McKellen once described Lavigne as “a punk chanteuse, a post-grunge valkyrie, with the wounded soul of a poet and the explosive pugnacity of a Canadian". Sir Ian McKellen may also be a poet...

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

15. The Sum of All Fears

In 2006, Avril married Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for the band Sum 41. Deryck secretly took Lavigne’s name.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

16. Gone but not Forgotten

The couple was divorced after four years (just in time for the next Olympics), but Whibley and Lavigne still enjoyed a working relationship, with Whibley producing her fourth album and the single “Alice” written for Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

17. Comic Relief

In 2007, Avril was depicted in a two-volume illustrated novel called "Make 5 Wishes". It tells the story of a timid girl named Hana who, after encountering her idol, Avril Lavigne, gains the courage to confront her fears and handle the pressures of the contemporary emotionally tumultuous teenage life via escapism.

Avril Lavigne FactsShutterstock

18. Avril Lavigne Featuring Chad Kroeger

After dating for one month, she married Chad Kroeger of Nickelback, which means there’s at least one other fan of Nickelback.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

19. Let Me Go

Three years later, Lavigne announced on Instagram that she and Kroeger were separating, presumably after David Grohl’s mean tweets made her reconsider the union.

Avril Lavigne FactsShutterstock

20. A Splash of Lyme

In 2015, Lavigne revealed that she had Lyme Disease, which is transmitted via infected ticks.

Avril Lavigne FactsWikimedia Commons, Luuk Denekamp

21. Secondhand Hits

Avril has co-written songs for other artists, including the song “Breakaway” sung by Kelly Clarkson. “Breakaway” was originally intended for Lavigne’s debut studio album Let Go but was deemed better suited to Kelly.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

22. And the Oscar Goes to…

She’s appeared as actress in the films Over the Hedge (as a possum), Fast Food Nation (as a vegetarian activist), and The Flock (as the girlfriend of a serial abuser).

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

23. No “Ragrets”

Motivated by her then-boyfriend Brody Jenner, Avril had the name “Brody” inked just below her right side of the chest. They broke up two years later. It’s okay. She can just tell people she’s a huge fan of Adrien Brody.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

24. She Got Game

These designs were featured in an online game called Stardoll, where you can dress Avril Lavigne and do her makeup. It’s a game targeted at young girls and creepy men.

Avril Lavigne FactsShutterstock

25. Scent of a Woman

Avril has two perfumes, Black Star and Forbidden Rose, in case any of you have ever wanted to smell like Avril Lavigne and attract Chad Kroeger.

Avril Lavigne FactsShutterstock

26. Avril vs. Zuckerberg

In a demonstration of his in-progress artificial intelligence system Jarvis, named after Tony Stark's AI from the Iron Man movies, Zuckerberg asked the program to "play us some good Nickelback songs".

"I'm sorry Mark, I'm afraid I can't do that," replied Jarvis. "There are no good Nickelback songs".

Avril counteracted on Twitter, alleging that he was unfairly targeting Nickelback.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

27. Pretty in Ink

Avril is famous for having quite a few tattoos including ink of the F word on her ribs.

Avril Lavigne factsGetty Images

Sources: 1 2 3 4


More from Factinate

Featured Article

My mom never told me how her best friend died. Years later, I was using her phone when I made an utterly chilling discovery.

Dark Family Secrets

Dark Family Secrets Exposed

Nothing stays hidden forever—and these dark family secrets are proof that when the truth comes out, it can range from devastating to utterly chilling.
April 8, 2020 Samantha Henman

Featured Article

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.

Madame de Pompadour Facts

Entrancing Facts About Madame de Pompadour, France's Most Powerful Mistress

Madame de Pompadour was the alluring chief mistress of King Louis XV, but few people know her dark history—or the chilling secret shared by her and Louis.
December 7, 2018 Kyle Climans

More from Factinate

Featured Article

I tried to get my ex-wife served with divorce papers. I knew that she was going to take it badly, but I had no idea about the insane lengths she would go to just to get revenge and mess with my life.

These People Got Genius Revenges

When someone really pushes our buttons, we'd like to think that we'd hold our head high and turn the other cheek, but revenge is so, so sweet.
April 22, 2020 Scott Mazza

Featured Article

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but few people know her even darker history.

Catherine of Aragon Facts

Tragic Facts About Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s First Wife

Catherine of Aragon is now infamous as King Henry VIII’s rejected queen—but very few people know her even darker history.
June 7, 2018 Christine Tran



Dear reader,


Want to tell us to write facts on a topic? We’re always looking for your input! Please reach out to us to let us know what you’re interested in reading. Your suggestions can be as general or specific as you like, from “Life” to “Compact Cars and Trucks” to “A Subspecies of Capybara Called Hydrochoerus Isthmius.” We’ll get our writers on it because we want to create articles on the topics you’re interested in. Please submit feedback to contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your time!


Do you question the accuracy of a fact you just read? At Factinate, we’re dedicated to getting things right. Our credibility is the turbo-charged engine of our success. We want our readers to trust us. Our editors are instructed to fact check thoroughly, including finding at least three references for each fact. However, despite our best efforts, we sometimes miss the mark. When we do, we depend on our loyal, helpful readers to point out how we can do better. Please let us know if a fact we’ve published is inaccurate (or even if you just suspect it’s inaccurate) by reaching out to us at contribute@factinate.com. Thanks for your help!


Warmest regards,



The Factinate team




Want to learn something new every day?

Join thousands of others and start your morning with our Fact Of The Day newsletter.

Thank you!

Error, please try again.