When she was only 17, the Canadian singer’s debut album wowed the world. Now, as Let Go hits its 20th anniversary, its pop-punk anthems are finding new life thanks to TikTok

Tue 31 May 2022 08.00 BST
For a generation of girls who spent years exclusively wearing butterfly clips, bright blue eyeshadow and pale pink everything, the release of the “pop-punk princess” Avril Lavigne’s debut album, Let Go, on 4 June 2002 was not merely a new sound, it was enlightenment.

In an era when bubblegum pop and “sexy baby” personas reigned, the 17-year-old Lavigne emerged as its antithesis. Rarely seen without a baggy pair of jeans, heavy kohl eyeliner and a loose tie round her neck, she co-wrote her own songs, with lyrics about skateboarding and getting fired from a chicken shop. Her first two singles, Complicated and Sk8er Boi, both spent half of the year on the Billboard Hot 100 and Let Go remains one of the 20 bestselling albums of the 21st century.

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RETURN OF THE POP-PUNK REBEL
A wave of nostalgia sweeps over me when I revive memories of being a key holder at Hot Topic, rocking magenta-dyed locks, folding end-less piles of band tees, and singing along to Avril Lavigne’s infectious anthems “Complicated” and “SK8RBoi”. It has been nearly two decades since the Canadian singer-songwriter released her very first debut album, Let Go, but the queen is back and you’re gonna wish she was your wifey. After breaking into the music scene at just 17 years old, the eight-time Grammy nominated global superstar has sold more than 40 mil-lion albums worldwide and has continued mainstream success from the release off our more follow-up studio albums, including Under MySkin(2004),The Best DamnThing(2007),Goodbye Lullaby(2011) andAvril Lavigne(2013). Now, in celebration of her 20-year anniversary, Lavigne is returning to her pop-punk roots with her latest single “Bite Me” and an extensive world tour.
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