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Rock & roll wild child Avril Lavigne hit big in summer 2002 with her spiky-fun debut song "Complicated," shifting pop music into a different direction. Avril Lavigne, who was 17 at the time, didn't seem concerned with the glamor of the TRL-dominated pop world and such confidence allowed her star power to soar.
The middle of three children in small town Napanee, Ontario, Avril Lavigne's rock ambitions were noticeable around age two. By Avril Lavigne's early teens, she was already writing songs and playing guitar. The church choir and local festivals and county fairs also allowed Avril Lavigne to get her voice heard, and luckily, Arista Records' main man Antonio "L.A." Reid was listening. He offered her a deal, and at 16, Avril Lavigne's musical dreams became reality.
With Reid's assistance and a new Manhattan apartment, Avril Lavigne found herself surrounded by prime songwriters and producers, but it wasn't impressive enough for her to continue. Avril Lavigne had always relied on her own ideas to create a musical spark and things weren't going as planned. Avril Lavigne wasn't disillusioned, though. Avril Lavigne headed for Los Angeles and Nettwerk grabbed her. Producer/songwriter Clif Magness (Celine Dion, Wilson Phillips, Sheena Easton) tweaked Avril Lavigne's melodic, edgy sound and her debut, Let Go, was the polished product. Singles such as "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi" went top 10 while "I'm With You" and "Losing Grip" did moderately well on radio. Butch Walker of the Marvelous 3, Our Lady Peace frontman Raine Maida and Don Gilmore (Linkin Park, Good Charlotte) signed on to produce Avril Lavigne's second album. Under My Skin appeared in May 2004.
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