It's been 20 years since Avril Lavigne released her debut album Let Go, inspiring a generation of teens to explore their edgier side in a pop-centric world. Now, two decades later, she's reflecting on how the record is impacting a newer generation.
Lavigne was just 17 years old when her debut album skyrocketed her to fame after its June 2002 release. Despite her young age, it was something she had been looking forward to for years, according to The Guardian.
"I remember being at home and being 14 and thinking like: 'I need to hurry up and get this music thing going!'" she recalled. "I was like: 'I want to be doing this while I'm YOUNG!'"
Let Go included some songs that are still considered to be among her biggest hits, such as "Complicated" and "Sk8er Boi," and the album was largely inspired by her life growing up in a small town in Canada. According to the Love Sux singer, she couldn't wait to get out of high school and just "rock out."
"I moved out of my parents' house and directly into a tour bus, not having any rules," she said. "I was like: 'I can drink beer now and eat pizza every day' and I just got to hang out with my band and travel the world. It was crazy, but it was pretty special."
After moving to California and signing with Arista Records at 16, she began working with other industry professionals to craft the album that would later prove to be a hit.
"I was very clear on what I wanted to do and what I didn't want to do. I wanted to be angsty and to sound more like a band; I didn't want to be all bubblegum pop. I wanted to turn my emotions into lyrics. I was honestly just very, very pure," she said, adding, "I've always had this thing where I'm like: just be as sincere as possible. The songs are real and they're emotional. That works for me."
The sincerity of her music seems to have struck a chord in fans, both when the album initially debuted and now 20 years later, inspiring younger generations and other popular artists like Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo, who recently brought Lavigne out on stage during a stop on her Sour tour for a surprise duet of "Complicated."
"That younger generations are discovering my stuff and that Billie, Olivia, and Willow [Smith] go out into the world and continue to shatter the mold like I did 20 years ago is super inspiring," she said, adding, "All these people around me are like: 'Oh my God, I'm a huge fan, I listened to you growing up, you inspired me!' It's really trippy."