By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
September 6, 2002
Kiss 103.5 Star Party
with Avril Lavigne, Naughty By Nature, Fat Joe, Mario, BB Mak and Nick Carter
WHEN: 7:30 tonight
WHERE: Rosemont Theatre, 5400 N. River Rd., Rosemont
TICKETS: Sold out
Sept. 27 is coming too soon for Avril Lavigne. That’s when pop music’s antithesis to Britney Spears turns 18. Unlike Spears, who had sufficiently tarted up her image by that age, Lavigne is savoring her youth.
“I kind of like being a minor,” says Lavigne, who favors laid-back skateboarder chic over high heels and midriff-baring tops. “I don’t have as many responsibilities as an adult. I’m not looking forward to my birthday at all.”
Perhaps that’s because 17 has been a remarkable age for Lavigne. Her punky-pop CD “Let Go” debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard album chart in June and went gold within a month, thanks in part to her hit single “Complicated.” It keeps climbing the chart and now ranks No. 3, having sold more than 1.4 million copies according to SoundScan.
It would seem that Lavigne is following in the path of Spears, who debuted at No. 1 with her album “… Baby One More Time.” But listen to her songs and it’s clear the tomboyish Canadian singer-songwriter is under no one’s thumb.
Lavigne may be young, but she has lived enough to have her heart broken and is talented enough to convey that hurt in an assertive way that rocks.
“I will never do anything I don’t want to do,” says Lavigne, who dropped out of high school at 16 to work on her album in America. “I have a very clear idea about what I want to say. What you see is pretty much what you get with me. I’m not one way onstage and another off.”
Lavigne won’t slag Spears or the multitude of young blond singers who followed in her footsteps, but she makes it clear she had no interest in emulating them.
“When I first got signed, I was given songs written by other people to sing,” she says. “Obviously, that’s what they’re going to do with a 16-year-old kid. But I said I didn’t want to sing other people’s songs, and they all looked at me like, ‘What do you think you’re doing?’ So I talked to ‘L.A.’ Reid [president of Lavigne’s label, Arista] and told him how I felt. He let me go and write my own songs.”
She’ll be singing those songs at tonight’s sold-out Kiss 103.5 Star Party at the Rosemont Theatre. Last week, Lavigne performed at the preshow for the MTV Video Music Awards. At the show itself, she watched host Jimmy Fallon appear onstage dressed up as her.
“Did you see me standing up on my chair?” she says, laughing. “I thought it was awesome! It was hilarious. I had heard someone say that he might imitate me, but I didn’t take it seriously.”
She was a little more determined when it came to crashing P. Diddy’s party afterward.
“It was a total dress-code party,” she says. “Everyone was dressed in tuxedos and gowns. My band and I were the only ones dressed down. They let me in but not my band. So I walked in, went to Puff and said, ‘Dude, they’re not letting my band in.’ ”
Dude was real nice about it and made sure all her bandmates got in.
“The party was awesome,” she says. “There was a cage on the ceiling with women in sparkles dancing. There were waiters walking around with trays of free food. Nelly and Justin Timberlake came up to me, and I hung out with Lisa Marie Presley. The coolest thing, though, was Puffy got on the mike and said, ‘Avril Lavigne’s in the house.’ ”
Lavigne has a difficult time thinking of herself in the same light as her fellow celebrity revelers. But with her video on heavy rotation on MTV, she is recognizable, especially to her core following of teenage fans.
“It pretty much gets more intense every day,” she says. “From a week ago to today is a totally different story. Sometimes it’s so weird if you’re traveling and you look like crap and you’re thinking, ‘Oh please, don’t look at me.’ But they always do and they’re offended if you don’t want to have your picture taken, but I’m just like anyone else. I don’t want to be photographed if I have a big zit on my forehead.”
CHOOSE YOUR STARLET
Name:
Britney Spears sounds like a perfect name for a sex kitten.
Avril Lavigne (pronounced Ah-vreel La-veen) sounds sophisticated.
Brains:
Lavigne writes her own songs and plays the guitar.
Spears sings songs written for her and picks out her own lip gloss.
Hair:
Lavigne wears her long blonde hair straight and uncomplicated.
Spears adds hair extensions to make her blonde hair even longer and fuller.
Clothes:
Lavigne is rarely seen without her trademark tank top and neck tie.
Spears’ tops all rise way, way, way above her trademark belly button.
Heart:
Lavigne takes vengeance on ex-boyfriends by writing songs about them.
Spears has taken a six-month sabbatical from show business after her breakup with Justin Timberlake.
Background:
Lavigne is a former hockey player.
Spears is a former Mouseketeer.
