1 of 6 | Canadian singer and songwriter Avril Lavigne strikes a poser during an unveiling ceremony honoring her with the 2,731st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI |
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Aug. 31 (UPI) -- Singer Avril Lavigne received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Wednesday as she celebrated the 20th anniversary of her debut album.
Lavigne's Let Go was released on June 4, 2002, and she has been nominated for eight Grammys throughout her career. During her speech in front of Amoeba Music in Los Angeles, Lavigne thanked her family and friends for supporting her and music producer L.A. Reid "for discovering me at 15 years old, just a kid from a small town in Ontario, Canada, and he believed in me."
She recalled coming to Hollywood for the first time at 16 years old "right about when I dropped out of high school," two years before she released her first hit single "Sk8er Boi."
"I remember seeing these legendary names and I never could have imagined that mine would be here," she said. "This is so crazy. I'm so grateful. This is probably one of the coolest days of my life."
Lavigne later put on the same hoodie she was wearing on that visit years ago.
"It fits!" Lavigne said.
Lavigne's debut, Let Go, sold more than 16 million copies worldwide and was certified seven times platinum in the United States and made her the youngest female solo artist to have a No. 1 album in Britain.
"Sk8er Boi" was nominated for a Grammy for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance and an MTV Video Music Award in 2003, and "Complicated" was nominated for "Song of the Year" and "Best Female Pop Vocal Performance" at the Grammys.
Fellow musician Machine Gun Kelly delivered a speech on Lavigne's behalf at Wednesday's ceremony, saying "Sk8er Boi" inspired him.
"Avril Lavigne, you are an amalgamation, the amalgamation of our generation's childhood, adulthood, angst, love, breakups, all of the above and everything in between," he said. "You have been with me way longer than you know. You were with me on all of the times I got my heart broken. Your music was in my headphones. You were an inspiration for a generation of kids like myself, who wore baggy jeans and skated and didn't fit into what MTV's version of what the girls wanted."
