Why Avril Lavigne, Canada's pop-punk princess, still matters

I was an angsty young teen, deep in the trenches of nu-metal and alternative rock, when my older sister brought home a copy of Avril Lavigne’s debut album “Let Go.”

- RICHIE ASSALY

Avril Lavigne hosted the Juno Awards in 2022, performing a medley of her greatest hits. Throughout the event, which felt like a victory lap, several artists described Lavigne’s influence.

Naturally, I was skeptical of this much-hyped teenage pop prodigy, whose music was suddenly everywhere.

But despite my best efforts, I found myself drawn to Lavigne’s music, pressing my ear against the wall between my room and my sister’s, trying to sneak a listen to earworms like “Complicated” or “Sk8er Boi,” punchy songs that expertly combined crunchy guitars and sticky pop-punk hooks, delivered with a subtle country twang.

The music was wholesome, sure, but there was also an edge to it — the soaring power ballad “I’m With You” contained a tangible rawness and emotional depth that felt like an oasis amid the arid soundscape of Y2K pop music; a soundscape saturated by bland hits by the Back-street Boys, Britney Spears and Smash Mouth.

“Let Go,” which was released when Lavigne was just 17, was a monster commercial success — the album went seven times platinum in the United States and sold 16 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling album of the 21st century by a Canadian artist.

It wasn’t just her emo pop-punk sound. Lavigne’s style — skater shoes, baggy shorts, necktie, heavy eyeliner — had an immediate impact on pop culture. She spawned a cluster of imitators, from Fefe Dobson to Hilary Duff, and helped pave the way for a wave of popular pop-punk bands like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte. Though I stuck to Led Zeppelin T-shirts, my sister’s wardrobe was transformed into an Avril shrine (to this day it has not recovered).