Avril Lavigne is definitely not your typical teen-pop princess. In fact, she prides herself on being the exact opposite of Britney Spears, celebrating her tomboy skater-punk individuality and her love for rock music.

Lavigne started singing at age 2 and gained local recognition in her hometown of Napanee, Ontario, singing country music in regional competitions after graduating from the church choir at age 10. Only a few years later, her vocal talent won her the grand prize in a local radio station contest: a trip to Ottawa to perform a duet with country music diva and fellow Ontario native, Shania Twain. Though this seemed like a big break for the 13 year-old, who'd begun to write her own songs and play guitar, the pinnacle of Lavigne's musical career would arrive in her high school years, when she sent out videotapes of her stage performances to various management companies and record labels in North America. Fortunately, Arista Records was not one of the many labels that passed on Lavigne, and the label's CEO, Antonio "L.A." Reid, signed the teenage wild child before she'd even recorded a demo.

Accompanied by her older brother, the Canadian, now 16 years old, moved to Manhattan to start her much-anticipated career with a major label contract. But she knew her destiny was not to be the mere vocalist Arista had hoped she would be--she wanted to be an artist who was heavily involved in the songwriting process. After Arista granted her leeway to write her own songs, Lavigne relocated to the West Coast, where she hooked up with Nettwerk Management (Sarah McLachlan, Sum 41, Barenaked Ladies, Dido, Coldplay) and met producer/songwriter Cliff Magness, with whom she shared an instant chemistry. Together they came up with the chart-topping single "Complicated," which paved the way for the teen rocker's first full-length album, Let Go, which debuted at number eight on the Billboard charts in the summer of 2002 and went platinum within five weeks of its release.

With her suburban pop-punk sass, Lavigne is a refreshing alternative to the bigger-than-life Britneys, Christinas, and Jessicas of the pop world, and is instead a reflection of today's free-spirited teenage girl who just wants to, well, have fun.

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