Avril
Lavigne (born September 27, 1984)
is a Canadian rock singer and musician. She has sold over twenty-six
million
albums worldwide. In 2006, Canadian Business Magazine
ranked her the seventh most powerful Canadian in Hollywood.
Although her parents are of French origin,
she does not speak French and her name. Avril is French for "April",
while la vigne means "the vine" or "the vineyard".
Avril Lavigne's debut album, Let Go, was released
in 2002. Her second and third albums, Under My Skin (2004) and
The Best Damn Thing (2007),
respectively, reached number one on the U.S. Billboard 200. Lavigne
has scored three number one songs worldwide to date and a total of
nine top ten hits, including "Complicated", "Sk8er
Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", "Nobody's
Home", "Keep Holding On", and "Girlfriend".
Avril
Lavigne was born in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, to a
French-born father, John, and a Franco-Ontarian mother, Judy.
Both parents
are Catholic and she had a Catholic upbringing. Avril's musical
talent was first spotted at the age of two when her mother says Avril
began singing along with her on church songs. The family moved to
Napanee, Ontario, when Lavigne was five years old.
In 1998, Avril Lavigne won a competition to sing
with fellow Canadian singer Shania Twain on her first major concert
tour. She appeared
alongside Twain at her concert in Ottawa, appearing on stage to sing "What
Made You Say That".
She was discovered by her first professional
manager, Cliff Fabri, while singing country covers at a Chapters
bookstore in Kingston,
Ontario. During a performance with the Lennox Community Theatre,
Lavigne was spotted by local folk singer Steve Medd (a relation of
the influential Canadian journalist, Ben Medd), who invited her to
sing on his song "Touch the Sky" for his 1999 album Quinte
Spirit. She also sang on "Temple of Life" and "Two
Rivers" for his follow up album, My Window to You, in 2000.
At the age of sixteen Avril Lavigne was
signed by Ken Krongard, the artists-and-repertoire (A&R) representative
of Arista Records, who invited the head of Arista, Antonio "L.A." Reid,
to hear her sing at the New York City studio of producer Peter
Zizzo. She then completed
work on her first album.
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Natasha
Bedingfield Musician
Natasha is an English singer and
songwriter who has performed in the genres of contemporary
Christian and pop music. Natasha and Daniel Bedingfield
share the Guinness World Record for being the only siblings
to have had solo number-ones in UK chart history.
Natasha Bedingfield Bio and Photos |
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Gwen Stefani
Gwen's brother Eric started the band No Doubt with his friend John Spence
in 1987, and asked the always effervescent Gwen to join on as co-vocalist
with Spence. Tony Kanal joined the group a little later, and the trio
began to gain popularity by playing at local parties.
Gwen Stefani Bio and Photo Gallery |
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Diana
Krall Jazz Pianist and Singer
At the age of seventeen she won a scholarship from the Vancouver International
Jazz Festival to study at Berklee College of Music in Boston. In Nanaimo,
her playing attracted the attention of famed bass player Ray Brown and
drummer Jeff Hamilton.
Diana Krall Bio and Photos |
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Shania
Twain Country Music Artist
Shania Twain often grabbed a guitar and retreated to the solitude of her
bedroom singing and writing until her fingers ached. "I grew up listening
to Waylon, Willie, Dolly, Tammy, all of them," she recalls. "But
we also listened to the Mamas and the Papas, The Carpenters, The Supremes
and Stevie Wonder.
Shania Twain Bio and Photos |
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Stacy
Ferguson Singer and Songwriter
As a child actress, Stacy Ferguson
was actually on the television program Kids Incorporated
for several years with her TV sister Renee Sands, who became
a fellow member of Wild Orchid. On the show, she sang Whitney
Houston's "One Moment In Time".
Stacy Ferguson Bio and Pictures |
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Julianne
Hough Musician and Dancer
Julianne Hough began working almost
immediately upon arriving in Los Angeles. She was featured
in two television commercials and was a "dancing" extra
in an episode of Cold Case. She was one of the "Million
Dollar Dancers" in the short lived network television
game show Show Me the Money starring William Shatner.
Julianne Hough Biography and Photo Gallery |
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Miley
Cyrus Musician and Actress
Cyrus landed the lead role of Hannah
Montana, a teen pop star who leads a double life as an
average schoolgirl. Her dad, Billy Ray, was then chosen
to play her widowed father in the TV series, and the entire
Cyrus family moved from Nashville to southern California
to encourage Miley's career. Miley
Cyrus Bio and Pictures |
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