Avril Ramona Lavigne was born in Napanee, Ontario, to parents Judy and John on September 27th, 1984. She was the middle child. She has a brother names Matthew who's 19 years old and a younger sister Michelle, 14. But she was always the feisty one and spent most of her school years getting into trubble. Even as a teen at Napanee District High School, despite being one of the smallest in her class (5''1'), she was always getting into scrapes. "I got into lots of fights," she admits. "If someone was picking on one of my friends, I'd go bithc them out. I wasn't a fighter, but I don't take any crap. Avril's strong character meant shewasn't always popular with her classmates. "The funny thing is," she smiles "people used to be intimidated by me. I don't know why. It's weird - the group you hang out with and the clothes you wear can scare people. My teachers hated me because I never did my work and never paid attention in class." But itwasn't just Avril's teachers who were angry with her, trouble at school made her parents mad, which meant she was always grounded. "I was rebellious towards my parents, but we're cool now," Avril reveals. "I was always in trouble. I was never allowed to do anything after school so I'd go to my room and write." And that's where Avril's musicwas born, being grounded gave her the time (and inspiration) to write her first album, Let Go.

Avril had been into music since the age of 2, performing in localmusicals, village fairs and, thanks to devout Christian family, at church. Until theage of 12 she'd just been a singer, but she decided she wanted more. So she taught herself to play guitar, andfound a new way of making her parents proud, too. "I taught myself on my dad's guitar," she says. "I started writing lines here and there and they grew into songs. I did it on my own, but my parents supported me," she smiles.

It wasn't long before Avril had her first taste of fame. At the age of 14, singing contest in Canada's capital, Ottawa. She won and appeared on stage as part of her prize (alongside Shania Twain in front of 10.000 people.) It was then that she knew that she could do it, she knew she had something special, so she started to chase her dream. Determinded to be a star, Avril sent a home video of herself singing karaoke to Peter Zizzo, an American songwriter/producer. He was so impressed he invited the ambitious 16 year old on a songwriting trip to New York. Everyone loved her and she was immediately signed to Arista Records, kome of Pink and Usher. Avril's dream was coming true, so she dropped out of school and moved to New York to work on her debut album. But living the dream was scarier than tough- kid Avril had thought. "The city is nuts. It was crazy learning subway on my way to the studio every day," she says, "But I was glad to be doing something productive." After a year working hard Avril had finished her first album, Let Go. "My lyrics are honest and I write about whatever happens to me," she says. "my song Losing Grip means a lot to me, it's about my ex-boyfriend. We weren't meeting on a emotional level and he wasn't giving me what I needed. I can still play the same songs and get mad and get my anger out. It's therapeutic and I hope I can help others in a similar situation." But it wasn't all plain- rocking. Avril'sfeisty self-belief caused problems, too. "I worked with a ton of people, and fought with most of them," she explains. "I'd go on writing trips, meets lots of musicians and write one song and be like, 'Screw this. I'm not working with that person.' Sometimes, just because of my age, they didn't want to hear what I had to say. I probably just gave them attitude if they weren't listening. I'm a little fighter and I stand up for what I believe."

Avril also ran into trouble because she refused to be manufactured by the record company. As she'd said all along, she just wanted to be herself. So she refused to do what she told to say, or even wear. "I'm not a fucking product, I'm a human. There are times when I go to photoshoots and there are racks of clothes and I'mlike 'No I'm not wearing any of that," Avril says. "People try to get me to wear high-heeled shoes and cute little shirts and I'm like 'No! It's tempting, girls like to look pretty, but I'm not like that. It's really important that, when I'm on camera I dress and act the way I normally would. I just want to be myself. I don't want to act like someone I'm not.I want the world to know who I really am. I'm sick of people being fake, and two-faced."

The great thing is, despite her success, fame hasn't changed Avril at all. "I just think that the way people treat me sometimes is just, like, weird". "It's like they think I'm made up of plastic or something. I was walking down the hall one time, and this guy was yelling 'Move out ofmy way',at everyoneso I could walk through. I was like, fucking shut up! I don't deserve to be treated any more special than other people." So, forget Jenny from the block, this is one down-to-earth girl who'll still be keeping it real when she's on her 10th album. And Avril's determinded to stick around for a long time. "I want a very long career.I'm only 18 so I'm growing and becoming who I am, and I change all the time. But I want to be around for a while yet and make tons of different albums."