Avril Lavigne

From a French Canadian family, Avril Lavigne first came to attention in 1998 when she won a talent competition to appear on stage with Shania Twain. Local folk singer Steve Medd invited her to sing on his albums, which helped her discovery by major label Arista. She fought to get Arista to allow her to record her own songs but, collaborating with production team The Matrix, it worked and her 2002 debut album Let Go made her a star - at 17 she was the youngest female artist to have a UK No 1 album. Helped by exposure on the Dawson's Creek TV show, the album has sold over 16m and produced breakthrough hit singles Complicated and Sk8er Boi. It turned her into a teen idol but she has also proved to be a genuinely outstanding songwriter - Kelly Clarkson had a hit with her song Breakaway - and continued to make interesting records while broadening her horizons to move into acting.