June 4, 2002: Avril Lavigne Releases Her Debut Album, "Let Go"

June 4, 2002: Avril Lavigne, 17 years old, releases her debut album, Let Go. It includes this song.

Avril Ramona Lavigne was born on September 27, 1984 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, also the hometown of hockey legend Bobby Hull. At 15, she In 1999, Lavigne won a radio contest to perform with Canadian singer Shania Twain, at what's now known as the Canadian Tire Centre in the national capital of Ottawa. A year later, Antonio "L.A." Reid, who had recently signed the singer Pink, signed Avril to Arista Records.

Let Go included her debut single, "Complicated," which hit Number 2 on Billboard magazine's Hot 100. The video showed her and her band skateboarding through a mall. The punk-rock-influenced sound and the skateboarding them carried over into her 2nd single, "Sk8er Boi." It was an edgier take on the story-songs of the 1970s, with a narrator taking on the titular character that the popular girl turned down, ending up regretting it. It hit Number 10. The 3rd single, the ballad "I'm With You," proved she could sing softer songs as well.

The whole album sounded much more mature than a listener would expect from a teenager. In 2004, she released Under My Skin, including the Number 9 hit "My Happy Ending," which continued what seemed like progress toward grownup material.

But in 2007, at 22, she released her 3rd album, The Best Damn Thing, and it seemed like a step backward, with the lead single being "Girlfriend" -- as in, "Hey, hey, you, you! I don't like your girlfriend!" It sounded like a high schooler's song, and the video was filmed at a theme park. Nevertheless, it was her 1st Number 1 hit, and, through the Spring of 2022, it remains her only one. The title track did not chart, and the video had her in a cheerleader's uniform.

It didn't make sense: It was as if her 3rd album should have been the one she released at 17, the 1st at 19, and the 2nd at 22. She seemed to be on her way to becoming a legend. Instead, she became just another pop singer, with albums like Goodbye Lullaby in 2011, Avril Lavigne in 2013, Head Above Water in 2019, and Love Sux in 2022.

As with Paul McCartney in 1969, in 2017 a rumor got out that she had died some time earlier and had been replaced with a lookalike substitute. Supposedly, a combination of the pressures of fame and her grandfather's death led her to commit suicide in 2003. The apparent changes in her clothes, musical style and attitude fueled the speculation. The 2013-19 gap between albums didn't help. In a 2018 interview, she denied it, and explained that her absence from the public eye was due to a health issue, as she suffered from Lyme disease, which had gone into remission.

Looks alive to me.

From 2006 to 2009, she was married to Sum 41 lead singer Deryck Whibley; from 2013 to 2015, to Nickelback lead singer Chad Kroeger. Both were fellow Canadians. As yet, she has no children.

*

June 4, 2002 was a Tuesday. Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals was played at the Joe Louis Arena in Detroit. In the 1st Finals game played in the history of the franchise that began in 1972, as the New England Whalers of the World Hockey Association, the Carolina Hurricanes upset the heavily-favored hosts, the Detroit Red Wings, 3-2.

Jeff O'Neill tied the game with 50 seconds left in regulation, and Ron Francis won it 58 seconds into overtime. So the tying and winning goals came within 1:38, game-clock time. The shock must have woken the Wings up, because they won the next 4 straight, to win the Cup.

Football was out of season. The NBA Playoffs were between the Conference Finals and the Finals, which the Los Angeles Lakers would win in a 4-game sweep over the New Jersey Nets.

The World Cup was in progress, and, for the 1st time, hosting duties were split between 2 nearby nations. Co-host Japan played Belgium to a 2-2 draw at Saitama Stadium. The other co-host, South Korea, beat Poland, 2-0 at Asiad Main Stadium in Busan. Costa Rica beat China, 2-0 at Gwangju, Korea.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles, 13-5 at Yankee Stadium. Ramiro Mendoza was the winning pitcher, in relief of Mike Thurman. Jason Giambi went 3-for-4 with a walk and 5 RBIs. Giambi, Robin Ventura, Rondell White and Alfonso Soriano hit home runs. Derek Jeter went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 5-2 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

* The Florida Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 5-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. How many Marlins does it take to pitch a 4-hit shutout? Would you believe, 6? Josh Beckett allowed 1 hit over 3 innings, Hanzel Izquierdo was hitless over the next 2 and was named the winning pitcher, Michael Tejera allowed 1 hit over the next 2 innings, Armando Almanza allowed 2 hits in the 8th, Owsaldo Mairena pitched to 2 batters in the 9th and couldn't get either out, and Vladimir Nuñez got the last 3 outs.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, 3-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cincinnati Reds, 8-5 at Cinergy Field (formerly Riverfront Stadium) in Cincinnati.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-5 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-2 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Cubs, 6-5 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee. Alex Sánchez singled José Hernández home with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Cleveland Indians, 23-2 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis. The Twins scored 10 runs in the bottom of the 7th inning. They got home runs from Dustan Mohr, Corey Koskie and Jacques Jones. Jones and Rivas each had 5 RBIs. Jones, Rivas, Mohr and A.J. Pierzynski each went 4-for-6.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-4 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The Houston Astros beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-4 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Diego Padres, 3-1 at Qualcomm Stadium (formerly San Diego Stadium and Jack Murphy Stadium). Barry Bonds went 0-for-2 with 2 walks.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 3-0 at Edison International Field of Anaheim (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Scott Schoenweiss almost pitched a 4-hit shutout, but needed Troy Percival to get the last out of the game.

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Seattle Mariners, 3-2 at the Network Associates Coliseum, as the Oakland Coliseum was then known. Terrence Long doubled Jermaine Dye home with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ichiro Suzuki went 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.