Avril Lavigne: Marriage, movies and now it's back to the music

Enjoy our audio-visual feast of all things Avril as we celebrate the release of her album Best Damn Thing with an exclusive AOL Music Session recorded in the USA.

With a justified swagger and confidence, Avril Lavigne burst onto the music scene in 2002 with the single Complicated and through a couple of albums has grown in stature off of the back of steady stream of hit singles. Now, it's time for a third album Best Damn Thing, and as our artist of the month for April, we have a series of Lavigne-shaped delights for you to enjoy.

Canadian punk pop chick Avril Lavigne found her spot in the music world from the get-go with debut single Complicated slicing simply through the complications of love. Appealing to all and sundry with her good looks and rock attitude, Avril's shown in spades that her musical talents are ample also.

Plucked from a series of county fairs and church choirs, Avril was picked out by music maestro Antonio L.A. Reid and signed to record deal aged just 16. Building a base in New York and then moving to Los Angeles, Avril worked with some of the best writers around and by sticking with her instincts, crafted a sound that matched her ideas.

He debut album Let Go, with the long-lasting and infectious Sk8er Boi, sold by the truckload (that's 16 million copies) and second album Under My Skin has sold a staggering 8 million copies around the world to date, fuelled by the singles My Happy Ending and Fall To Pieces

More music and first step into the world of acting for action-adventure Eragon followed that, while Best Damn Thing began to take shape while touring for Under My Skin. Avril wanted to capture the energy and thrash that her live shows were producing: "I didn't have an A&R guy on this record. I knew exactly how I wanted it to sound," she says.

So, Best Damn Thing promises to be exactly that as Avril has grown up in the public eye but all the while keeping her feet on the ground and her musical ideas pumped up to the max. And, she's reaching out across the world as well, with Girlfriend available in eight different language versions digitally! Girlfriend is already a hit single in the UK, battling for the top spot, so expect more musical delights when the album is released this month.

Album Best Damn Thing is on release now, single I'm With You released 2 July.

- Download Avril with iTunes
- Buy Avril on CD from Amazon
- Visit her official website
- Search: Avril Lavigne