She was born in Belleville, Ontario, but spent most of her youth in the small town of Napanee.

Her parents supported her singing. Her father bought her a microphone, a drum kit, a keyboard, and several guitars, and converted their basement into a studio. When she was 14, her parents would take her to karaoke sessions.Lavigne also performed at country fairs. She also began writing her own songs. Her first song was called "Can't Stop Thinking About You", about a teenage crush, which she described as "cheesy cute".

By the age of 15, she had appeared on stage with Shania Twain; by 16, she had signed a two-album recording contract with Arista Records worth more than $2 million.

In 2002, when she was 17 years old, Lavigne broke onto the music scene with her debut album Let Go.

Let Go made Lavigne the youngest female soloist to reach No. 1 in the UK, and the album was certified four-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. By 2009, over 16 million copies had been sold worldwide. Her breakthrough single, "Complicated", peaked at No. 1 in many countries around the world.

Her second album, Under My Skin, was released in 2004 and was her first album to peak at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, eventually selling more than 10 million copies worldwide.

The Best Damn Thing, Lavigne’s third album, was released in 2007, becoming her third No. 1 album in the UK Albums Chart and featuring her first U.S. Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 single, "Girlfriend". Lavigne has scored six number-one singles worldwide, including "Complicated", "Sk8er Boi", "I'm with You", "My Happy Ending", "Nobody's Home", and "Girlfriend".

With more than 30 million copies of her albums sold worldwide, Lavigne is one of the top-selling artists releasing albums in the U.S., with over 10.25 million copies certified by the RIAA. Her fourth studio album, Goodbye Lullaby, was released in March 2011. Goodbye Lullaby gave Lavigne her fourth top 10 album on the U.S. Billboard 200 and the UK Albums Chart and her third No. 1 album in both Japan and Australia.

Three months after the release of Goodbye Lullaby, Lavigne began work on her fifth album, which will be released on Epic Records following her departure from RCA Records.Billboard Brazil announced that the first single from the album is expected to be released in October 2012

Lavigne branched out from recording music, pursuing careers in feature film acting and designing clothes and perfumes.

She voiced a character in the animated film, Over the Hedge, in 2006. That same year, she made her on-screen feature film debut in Fast Food Nation.

Themes in Lavigne's music include messages of self-empowerment from a female or an adolescent view.Lavigne believes her "songs are about being yourself no matter what and going after your dreams even if your dreams are crazy and even if people tell you they're never going to come true."

Most of critics identify Lavigne as some form between teen pop and pop-punk: Publications such as The New York Times, Rolling Stone, NME, MusicMight, IGN and Popmatters have identified Avril Lavigne as a mix of rock, teen pop and pop-punk, influenced by a grungey pop-rock sound.

In 2008, Lavigne introduced her clothing line, Abbey Dawn, featuring a back-to-school collection.It is produced by Kohl's, which is the brand's exclusive U.S. retailer. Named after Lavigne's childhood nickname, Abbey Dawn is designed by Lavigne herself.Lavigne, who wore some of the clothes and jewellery from her line at various concerts before its official launch, pointed out that she was not merely licensing her name to the collection.

In 2009, she released her first perfume, Black Star, in Europe, and later in the US and Canada it was created by Procter & Gamble Prestige Products. The fragrance was announced on Lavigne's official website on 7 March 2009. Black Star was followed by her second perfume, Forbidden Rose, in 2010 which took two years to develop.

Lavigne has a love for tattoos, however Only a few of Lavigne's tattoos are unique to her; the rest are matched with those of her friends.Lavigne appeared in the June/July cover story for Inked magazine, where she discussed and showed off her tattoos, including an "Abbey Dawn" on her left forearm and an "XXV" and star on her right.

When Lavigne first gained publicity, she was known for her tomboyish style,in particular her necktie-and-tank-top combinations.She preferred baggy clothes, skater shoes or Converses,wristbands, and sometimes shoelaces wrapped around her fingers.

Lavigne eventually took on a more gothic style as she began her second album, Under My Skin, trading her skating outfits for black tutus and earning an image marked by angst.During The Best Damn Thing years, Lavigne changed directions. She dyed her hair blonde with a pink streak, wore feminine outfits,including "tight jeans and heels",and modelled for magazines such as Harper's Bazaar.

Lavigne has been involved with many charities, including Make Some Noise, Amnesty International, Erase MS, AmericanCPR.org, Camp Will-a-Way, Music Clearing Minefields, U.S. Campaign for Burma, Make-a-Wish Foundation and War Child. She has also appeared in ALDO ads with YouthAIDS to raise money to educate people worldwide about HIV/AIDS. Lavigne took part in the Unite Against AIDS concert presented by ALDO in support of Unicef on 28 November 2007 at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

On 14 September 2010, Lavigne introduced her charity, "The Avril Lavigne Foundation", which aims to help young people with serious illnesses and disabilities and works with leading charitable organizations; The foundation partners with the Easter Seals, Make-A-Wish foundation and Erase MS, the latter two being charities Lavigne has previously worked with. Her work with the Make-A-Wish foundation was the inspiration behind her own charity

In July 2006, Lavigne married her boyfriend of two years, Deryck Whibley, lead singer and guitarist for Sum 41. The marriage lasted a little over three years, and in October 2009, Lavigne filed for divorce. Whibley and Lavigne continued to work together, with Whibley producing her fourth album, as well as Lavigne's single, "Alice", written for Tim Burton's film Alice in Wonderland.

In the spring of 2010, Lavigne began dating reality TV personality Brody Jenner. They split in January 2012.

She subsequently quietly began dating fellow Canadian rocker Chad Kroeger, frontman of the band Nickelback, in February 2012. The relationship blossomed when they got together to co-write a song for Lavigne's upcoming fifth album. After six months of dating, Lavigne announced her engagement to Kroeger in August 2012.