Avril Lavigne

She grew up in the small town of Napanee, Ontario, Canada. Her name is pronounced AH-vreel la-VEEN. It's French.

Avril has been performing live for years. She began with county fairs singing country songs and gospel at church. She learned guitar from listening to "Fly Away" by Lenny Kravitz. She was signed to a record label (Arista) at age 16, and claims she never experiences stage fright.

She consistently refuses to conform to other people's ideas of how to be popular. She won't sing songs by other songwriters or have her teeth bleached. Onstage, she will only wear her own outfits, which usually include tank tops and neckties.