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Avril Lavigne rose to fame in the early 2000s with a variety of hit songs that are still widely listened to and referenced today; including 'Sk8er Boi', 'Complicated', and ''Girlfriend'. However, just like all famous singers, she had to start somewhere in order to get to where she is today.

A few years before Lavigne released her debut album 'Let Go', she was doing what many other singers have also done, which is to go to any and all lengths possible to achieve her dream of becoming a singer. But there was one celebrity encounter Lavigne had that is almost certain to have got her to where she is today.

Avril Lavigne Was An Early 2000s Hit Singer

Avril Lavigne wearing a white tank top while getting closer to the camera (left), Avril Lavigne walking in a street looking behind her back in a blue skirt and leather jacket (right)
TheThings

Lavigne is a Canadian singer-songwriter who began her career at a very early age. She was first discovered by her manager, Cliff Fabri, when she was fifteen years old in 1999 and due to her still being of school age at this point, one fact fans might not know about this punk princess is that she dropped out of school to pursue this dream.

She then worked hard over the next few years to release her debut album in 2002, which seemed to make everything worth it as she was able to achieve her dream of becoming a singer, and it went to number one in many countries and even became a 7x platinum album in the United States.

It's no wonder that singing was the route she decided to go down as she reportedly comes from quite a musical family. Her father used to play in a band at their local church and the family had a studio in their basement that Lavigne would spend many hours singing in whilst she was growing up.

Since the release of her first album, her career has continued to go from strength to strength, and she has released many more albums over her twenty-year career, including 'Under My Skin', 'Goodbye Lullaby', and 'Love Sux'.

In fact, her songs have become so iconic that one in particular, 'Sk8er Boi', was reported to be in the works to be made into a movie.

Related: Avril Lavigne And Kelly Clarkson Have This Unlikely Musical Connection

But despite her success, her career hasn't been without its challenges; the main one being the conspiracy theory that Lavigne had died after her first album was released and was replaced by a look-alike named Melissa.

However, this is obviously just a theory that people have come up with, and given that there is no actual evidence to suggest otherwise, we can only assume that Lavigne is still alive and well and is still creating music in the way that she has always wanted to.

What Was Avril Lavigne Doing Before Her Singing Career?

Given that Lavigne got signed up by her first manager at the age of fifteen, it's safe to say that there wasn't much she was doing before becoming a singer other than attending school.

However, there was one thing that Lavigne did prior to fame that doesn't seem to be that well known by her fans and is something that almost certainly helped get her to where she is today.

Like many wannabe singers, Lavigne wanted to do everything she could to become a singer and be noticed by the people who could help her get to where she wanted to be. One of the things she did was enter a radio competition in Canada when she was just fourteen years old.

Related: Is Punk Rocker Avril Lavigne Secretly A Country Singer?

It may come as no surprise that Lavigne won that competition and the prize was to sing on stage with no other than country music icon Shania Twain. So, despite the insane amount of talent that Lavigne has on her own, it's safe to say that it was Twain that definitely helped get Lavigne to where she is today.

The two sang 'What Made You Say That', which was Twain's debut single and featured in her debut album 'Shania Twain.'

It was while sharing the stage with Twain that Lavigne revealed to her that she had dreams of becoming a singer. So, given that just a year later Lavigne had been spotted by her first manager, it's no coincidence that Twain was there at the beginning of her career to help get it all started.

What Is Next For Avril Lavigne?

Avril Lavigne in the music video for Girlfriend
YouTube

Despite being one of the most in-demand singers of the 2000s, in recent years, Lavigne seems to have gone a little quieter regarding singing. This is due to her contracting Lyme Disease in 2014, which is coincidentally the same illness that Twain herself had in the early 2000s and caused her singing career to go on a hiatus.

Lavigne was more or less bedridden with the disease for two years, which meant putting her singing career on halt whilst she took the time to rest and get back to good health before continuing to make any more music.

Related: The Truth About Chad Kroeger And Avril Lavigne's Marriage And Divorce

This then led to one of her next songs and also her 2019 album called 'Head Above Water', where Lavigne wrote and sang about her experience of living with Lyme Disease.

This came out six years after her previous album, which is the longest amount of time the singer has gone without releasing music, but it wasn't without good reason.

More recently, she released her seventh album 'Love Sux' in 2022, has recently been on tour with that album, and announced she is doing a European tour in Spring 2023. Despite her brief hiatus a few years ago, it's safe to say that Lavigne is still continuing to create music and that she isn't going anywhere anytime soon.