Avril Lavigne

Born:
Avril Ramona Lavigne,
September 27, 1984,
Belleville, Ontario, Canada

Nickname: Avie

Height: 5'2"

Grew up in Napanee, Ontario (population 5,000)

Father: John, born in France

Mother: Judy, Franco-Ontarian

Sister: Michelle

Brother: Matthew Lavigne

Husband: Deryck Whibley, aka Bizzy D, the lead singer of Canadian pop punk band Sum 41, July 15, 2006, Montecito, CA.

Pet: a dog named Sam

Diet: vegetarian, sort of. She won't say she's a vegetarian, just in case somebody sees her eating meat, which she does occasionally.

Tattoos: star on the inside of her left wrist; small pink heart-shaped tattoo featuring the letter 'D' on her right wrist

Avril owns 100 pairs of Converse sneakers.

Avril Lavigne was bornand raised in Ontario, Canada and grew up in the Roman Catholic tradition of her French-Canadian parents. She started singing hymns along with her mom at age 2, and later sang in the church choir.

“I always knew this was what I had to do,” she says. “I remember when I was really young, standing on my bed like it was a stage, singing at the top of my lungs and visualizing thousands of people surrounding me.” She taught herself to play the guitar, and sang gospel music in church and country music at fairs until she eventually signed with Arista Records when she was 16.

Avril's first album, Let Go, was an instant success, reaching number two in the United States and number one in Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.

Her second album, Under My Skin, debuted at number one in the U.S. and many other countries. She was named "Best New Artist" in 2002 at the MTV Video Music Awards, and was nominated for eight Grammy Awards.

Avril has recently changed her image from teen grunge to adult chic. She became the new face of Chanel in 2006 and signed a contract with Ford Modeling Agency.