Avril Lavigne has come a long way from where she started. First bursting into the scene with "Complicated" back in 2002, Avril will soon be celebrating her 10 year anniversary in music, and as an artist she has evolved and grown while staying true to herself.
"Yeah, I’ve been doing this for a really long time, 10 years, professionally in music," she tells MTV News. "And I would always look back and just say always be true to yourself, do what you want and follow your gut. And that was what I did."
Avril never wanted to be like everybody else. She never gave in to the pop stereotypes or pressures about changing her music. "As a creative person you have to be in tune with that and really have a sense of who you are and what you're going for because other people come in and tell you [that] you should do this and that so I always stayed focused on what it is that I wanted to do," she says.
Who said that in order to be successful in this business you had to follow the trends? Because clearly they were mistaken! Avril has always been an inspiration and an advocate for individuality. And she has been pretty damn successful in the process.